"Hotels.com said today it has launched a Facebook comments plug-in on its U.S. and U.K. websites.
The plug-in allows Facebook users to leave comments directly on the hotels.com site, which will then appear on their friends’ Facebook news feed. Comments made by friends can be shared in the stream on the hotels.com page."
Read the full article at www.webpronews.com
"It’s hard to think of an industry that is a better fit for social media, whether it’s Facebook or Flickr, YouTube or Twitter. But at the same time, no industry runs greater risk from poorly considered tactics or inappropriate social media strategies. As documented in a new set of proceedings, presenters at the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) documented the hospitality industry’s current use of social media, and outlined the remarkable potential for future social media platforms. Held in October 2010, CHRS brought 225 industry leaders and researchers to theCornell School of Hotel Administration to examine and analyze current industry issues, with a goal of moving forward in research and practice. The proceedings are found in “Social Media and the Hospitality Industry: Holding the Tiger by the Tail,” available at no charge from the Center for Hospitality Research(CHR) at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/roundtableproceedings/roundtable-15460.html."
Read the full article at www.hotelnewsresource.com
"According to Travel Weekly, Pegasus confirmed it is working with Google to include hotel pricing and direct links to hotel booking sites alongside OTA listings on its new Google Maps hotel search function. What's more, the company next week will announce a similar tool for metasearch sites."
Read the full article hotelmarketing.com
"Google first connected with OTAs, such as Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity and Hotels.com, to introduce their application programming interface that would allow for real-time sharing of rates and availability on Google Maps. Now they’re in the process of contacting CRS providers and major brands to offer the same access."
"In a tacit admission that Web publishers are flooding its search engine with low-quality pages, Google has revised its methods to improve the usefulness of its results.
Google said the change would raise the rankings of high-quality Web sites and reduce those of lesser sites, affecting 12 percent of search queries."
Read the full article on www.nytimes.com
"A new Google Maps feature that aggregates real-time hotel rates and availability has passed a seven-week beta test and has gone live, and at least one Central Reservation System provider is on a global road show informing hotel clients of their appearance on the new distribution channel.
Distribution experts still are hypothesizing about what kind of effect the search-engine giant will have on where travelers book hotel rooms, but some say the program should be embraced by hoteliers who don’t want to lose bookings to online travel agencies. Brands have taken notice and are discussing whether to alter their distribution strategies."
Read the full article at www.hotelnewsnow.com
"Google has announced an expansion of its Google Social Search results that’s beginning to roll out today on Google.com. Your friends’ activity on Twitter, Flickr and elsewhere — but for now, not Facebook — will soon be a lot more visible in Google’s search results, including having an impact on how pages rank."
Read more at www.hotelmarketing.com
"Harry Shum, Microsoft VP of Search Product Development, is presenting a keynote address at the Fourth ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining in Hong Kong Friday, where he will discuss the role of personal search history as a factor in search results, the conference site reported.
Shum will explain the changes being made at Bing and how the engine is using a "Dialog Model that consists of three building blocks: an indexing system that comprehensively collects information from the web and systematically harvests knowledge, an intent model that statistically infers user intent and predicts next action, and an interaction model that elicits user intent through mathematically optimized presentations of web information and domain knowledge that matches user needs."
Complete article on searchenginewatch.com
TripAdvisor LLC says Google Inc. has refused its requests to stop using content from TripAdvisor.com, the travel information and reviews site, on Google services that could compete with TripAdvisor.
In an interview this week, Chief Executive Stephen Kaufer said talks between his company and Google broke down after the Internet search giant said it would continue to include TripAdvisor’s user-generated reviews of businesses such as hotels in its Google’s Place pages and Hotpot business-reviews service. Mr. Kaufer said those services compete for Web traffic with his company’s site.
Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal
"A new survey of 36,000 frequent travelers about their hotel loyalty programs shows that one out of five members rely on mobile to communicate with their loyalty program, whether Hilton HHonors, InterContinental's Priority Club or Marriott Rewards.
The 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey was conducted by Loylogic, a company that develops technology for loyalty programs, to better understand frequent travelers' opinions towards their current loyalty programs and reward redemption."
Full article via USAToday
