Google to Make Its Core Products More Social

"Google will most probably launch its social network, Google Me, later this year. However, the secretive project might be more of an added layer to Google’s existing products and services than an entirely new service.

“We’re trying to take Google’s core products and add a social component,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said at the Google Zeitgeist conference on Tuesday.

Rumors about Google building a Facebook competitor became slightly more convincing back in August, when Google acquired Ångströ, a service that brings intelligent search results on someone’s professional network, as well as social app company Slide."

Read more at www.mashable.com

TripAdvisor launches “Reviews at a Glance”

"TripAdvisor's new feature summarizes the most frequent review phrases for hotels with the a large number of reviews on TripAdvisor. The feature gives travelers a new way to quickly browse the pros and cons of a particular property, making it faster and easier to get the world’s most trusted travel advice."

Read more www.hotelmarketing.com

Lodging Interactive Wins Design Honors at 2010 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, Winning Multiple Design Awards

PARSIPPANY, NJ , September 27, 2010 - Lodging Interactive, an award winning Interactive and Social Media Marketing Agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry, today announced that is has been awarded multiple Travel Weekly Magellan Awards for its superior website designs.  Travel Weekly Magellan Awards were presented for Lodging Interactive’s website design for the Hotel and Resort Overall Mid-scale categories.

The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards honors a broad range of industry segments including Hotel and Resorts, Travel Destinations, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators and Car Rental Companies. 

“Travel Weekly Magellan Awards represents the best in travel and salutes the outstanding travel professionals behind it all,” stated Mr. DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive’s Founder & President. “We are grateful to have been bestowed multiple awards of excellence for ourselves and our clients.”

View award winning websites:

 

http://www.HomewoodSuitesChicago.com

 

http://www.thewilshiregrandhotel.com/

 

Lodging Interactive is proud to add its Travel Weekly Magellan Awards to the Interactive Media Awards it previously won earlier in 2010.

Following the Money in the Social Media Advertising Boom

"In the social media world a number of trends are dictating how, why and where money gets spent--trends that will push the industry past the $2 billion mark in 2011, according to eMarketer's projections.

Not surprisingly, the biggest beneficiary of the current euphoria around social is Facebook, with several estimates now pegging the company's 2010 revenue at better than $1 billion. That growth is being fueled in part by what some advertisers see as competition to scoring prime advertising space on the site."

Read more at www.forbes.com

Google’s Chief on Social, Mobile and Conflict

"Lately, stories about Google often seem to be stories about conflict — Google knocking heads with China or the Justice Department or Facebook.

For Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, that is a good sign. “This is winning,” he said this week, speaking to a group of reporters at Google’s Zeitgeist conference in Arizona. “If we were losing, we would not have these problems.”

Mr. Schmidt gave a few updates on those conflicts and rivalries, as well as some others. Expect to see social tools from Google this fall, he said, but do not expect a brand new social network. Instead, Google will add social components to its core products."

Read more by Claire Cain Miller at http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Chatter Guard Social Media Monitor Report - August 2010 - Is Released

 

PARSIPPANY, NJ , September 21, 2010 - Lodging Interactive, a leading interactive marketing agency servicing the hospitality industry and the publisher of the free Chatter Guard Monthly Benchmark Monitor Report has released its August 2010 report.

To receive the full report, sign up for our newsletter at LodgingInteractive.com.

As we come into the last month of summer, we find that August hotel performance was an improvement over July, with some key segments performing well. However, the overall averages for all hotel segments were dragged down by a surprisingly poor showing in Extended Stay hotels. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being “fantastic” and 1 being “poor,” the only positive category for the average hotel lodger was in Dining for the second month in a
row, rising a meager 0.61% (from 3.26 to 3.28). The rest of the average hotel performances were losses: a 6.71% drop in Resultant Quality Score (3.28 to 3.06), a 4.95% decrease in Facilities ratings (3.64 to 3.46), a 6.96% loss in Housekeeping (3.16 to 2.94). Rooms saw a 8.25% decline (3.15 to 2.89), a 4.39% decrease in Staff reviews (3.42 to 3.27), and a significant 16.99% dip in Value (3.06 to 2.54).

 

To receive the full report, sign up for our newsletter at LodgingInteractive.com.

Understanding How and Why Facebook Users Interact with Brands

"While much of finding what works for your business on social media sites is a process of trial and error, recent stats from e-mail marketing firm ExactTarget (which recently acquired social CRM platform CoTweet) shed some light on how the Facebook population uses the site, and specifically, how it interacts with brands.

First, the good news: Based on its study of 1,500 Facebook users, ExactTarget concluded that 38% of online U.S. consumers “Like” (formerly “Fan”) a brand on the social networking site. And the average fan Likes nine different brands, giving you plenty of opportunity to find your way into potential customers’ news feeds."

Read more from Adam Ostrow at www.mashable.com

Social media lessons from the travel industry

"Truly challenging market conditions have forced airlines and hotels to look for ways to differentiate themselves from their competition and build brand loyalty. A great example of an industry that has learned it can’t stay in the same old place when it comes to staying ahead in marketing.

What can online marketers learn from the social media experience of the travel industry?"

Read more at www.hotelmarketing.com

TripAdvisor legal threat group reaches 300 hotels

"Over 300 hotels are now involved in a potential legal action against TripAdvisor, a figure which has doubled in just four days after the initial group was first revealed, writes Tnooz.

The group is considering the action on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean after growing increasingly concerned about alleged defamatory reviews appearing on hotel pages on the user generated content-driven site."

Read more at www.hotelmarketing.com

Social Media and Executives Don't Mix

"In a great post titled "Why Executives HATE Social Media" from the executives at DemingHill, we get an unfiltered viewpoint - straight from the executives - on why they hate social media, but could eventually learn to love it. It's an excellent post, but also a very long one, so I've listed my six main takeaways below.

No. 1: Lack of understanding = fear. The rapid rate of change in digital innovation has caused CEOs to feel extremely vulnerable around technology, because it's something on which we have become very reliant, but which we understand and "control" so little. This vulnerability leads to fear, and this fear to irrational decisions and suboptimal outcomes. When CEOs don't have the confidence in their staff to delegate, or lack the humility to admit their ignorance regarding technology advances, they get defensive and act out in fear - or fail to act altogether."

Read more on www.clickz.com, Erik Qualman