2008-08-26

New Open Review Website [TripReviews.com] in Private Beta

Ocasionally I get the opportunity to participate in some very cool private betas. In this case, a friend and colleague of mine, Sean Rollinson from Escapes.ca has recently launched a new project called TripReviews.com. Besides being a lucky domain name score, the site itself has some strong potential in the travel review space.

Some of the key differences between TripReviews.com and other review websites is the focus on openness, transparency, and supplier/operator participation. TripReviews.com doesn’t just support hotels but also destinations, attractions, and cruises. The rating system is purposefully simple and very straightforward, but with the ability to expand in the future. The system, although still fairly raw, allows users to comment directly on reviews. This, essentially, becomes a review of a review and allows members of the community to call BS on a review if it appears to be fake or fradulent. The other key difference is the ability for operators to participate in the conversation by joining and responding directly to reviews. This is similar in nature to the “Management Review” system in TripAdvisor, but much easier to join and use. Again, with wisdom of the crowds working in your favour, the idea is that bogus owners would be weeded out relatively quickly.

There is also an API and widget in the works which allows hoteliers, dmos, tour & activity suppliers, and cruise operators to add reviews and a review box directly to their websites. This feature is still in development but is expected to be released on select partner sites in October. This is potentially huge for TripReviews.com because it means anyone can add a review mechanism to their sites and collect and display reviews. The API and widget will be free.

In addition to the API and widget, Sean mentioned that there is a mobile version of the interface in the works which will allow members to rate activities, restaurants, hotels, and destinations in real time. With the rapid proliferation of the iPhone and other web capable mobiles, a real-time “impulse rating” (as these ratings are called) will be an interesting addition to the rating landscape.

When I asked Sean about how he came up with the idea for TripReviews, he responded that:

The TripReviews idea was born from seeing the growing popularity and positive feedback from travel reviews we post on Escapes.ca from our customers. That along with the fact that there is really only one big travel review website (Tripadvisor.com) I realized that there is a strong possibility for growth in this market. The TripReviews.com url was secured by luck, it happened to be available and I grabbed it. Score!

Pros:

Simple sign-up, non intimidating.
Simple interface, very easy to use.
Searcing interface is very fast, good use of AJAX
Comments on reviews enhaces credibility.
Comprehensive list of hotels, attractions, cruises already in the system.
Open rating is a good idea.

Cons:

No maps? Google mapping would be great.
In some cases there are too many steps for finding products if going through links (see 1.)
Needs more photos (this will come with time)

Sean has authorized me to release one of the shared BETA keys with my readers. This key can be used many times but it will identify you as a BETA user and a T4 reader. Try it and let me know what you think of the system.