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(Come on – you know you would have gone for the obvious headline play, too- so don’t judge. Now on to the taste test…)
Back when Vanessa Fox wrote about Eytan Seidman moving on from Microsoft Live Search (February 2008) for a start-up, she may not have known that he was jumping into murky waters of travel search. At the time, neither did I. But my first inkling came not long after – in April 2008, when I heard through the travel industry grapevine, that he’d shown up at a conference for travel executives. Did I mention that the conference was in Kona, Hawaii? (There is a reason the travel start-up segment is so appealing to aspiring entrepeneurs – it’s the perks.)
Of course, Eytan’s trip to that conference came hot on the heels of closing a Series A with Bain Capital and Accelerator Ventures (via TechCrunch) worth $6.4 million, to launch a start-up with his brother (Elie Seidman), Elie’s co-founder in another business, Epana, (Ariel Charytan) and fellow Microsoft Live Search engineer (Andy Laucius ) - Oyster.com – a hotel review site with a twist. Lucky for them, they got the deal sealed before the bottom started dropping out of the economy and the travel sector as a whole. Rather than relying on user-generated reviews, with which come the good, the bad and the downright ugly – Oyster is positioning itself as a repository of editorial content and professional, secret shopper style hotel reviews.
Now, the concept of secret-shopping hotel rooms and inspecting hotel rooms with a fine tooth comb isn’t anything that new to the travel industry. AAA shows up for site inspections without any notice to hotels to create (new) reviews and maintain diamond ratings, and there are also 3rd party mystery shopping services contracted by hotel operations to ensure a consistent guest experience is occurring.
Trying to stand out in a sea of travel start-ups
As has been the case with several ‘Web 2.0′ travel start-ups (Uptake & TravelMuse, WholeTravel) I’ve written about in the last year, Oyster is a hybrid model of inspirational and utilitarian based search. The first instinct of many search industry analysts and travel space dignitaries is going to be to compare Oyster.com to TripAdvisor. And why shouldn’t they? After all, it’s the most canonical example Eytan told me, (in a call earlier today to discuss Oyster’s differentiating factors) to go to -with millions of reviews and hundreds of photos contributed by users for each hotel. Meanwhile, Oyster is starting out small (just about 500 reviews with the upcoming addition of NYC and Vegas) and very focused on top leisure travel destination markets, and for obvious reasons, won’t specifically divulge their next destinations until the reviewers are done. For the connoisseurs out there, it’s a little like comparing a delicate Kumamoto, full of sweet flavor, to a large Pacific breed, full of meat but not always bursting with flavor until you add a mignonette.
Eytan also claimed they’ve got a ‘machine’ in place to churn out their next stops, and from my own experience evaluating what it would take to create a program like this, there’s a mountain of logistics to deal with. Take under consideration that the average TA contributor (likely) only visits and provides a review for just a few hotels. Sure there are exceptions to that, and more frequent travelers certainly may build out their TA profile with many contributions. At Oyster, Seidman stressed, each reviewer (or reporter, as they call them since most have a journalism background/approach) has been to a minimum of 20 hotels, but most average 50 or more. Not only that, but the professional reporters have a very structured and methodical approach to create each review, a checklist if you will. But they are also attempting to stray away from overly nit-picky issues, and attempting to paint the overall hotel experience in a light where the average traveler may have a similar experience. That’s the main reason why Oyster pays full fare and keeps their visits a bit under the radar, so that hotels don’t dote on reviewers in the same way they may treat VIP media.
Despite all the evidence that user-hotel reviews are a key consideration in booking travel, the reliability of reviews is still very much scrutinized, as demonstrated by the recent and very loud uproar over TripAdvisor’s publication of fraudulent reviews came to head with comments by legendary travel critic / hotel reviewer Arthur Frommer, TripAdvisor founder Steve Kaufman responded in an interview with Chris Elliott: “when I read the reviews, I take the best and worst reviews with a grain of salt, and focus on what the majority of reviewers have to say.”
Content is the cocktail sauce
…that flavors up every travel site- but how many different ways you can write about travel? It’s a fundamental argument that many make when talking about how crowded this space is.That is the ultimate challenge for an industry trying to constantly renew itself, and battle for search based traffic in a crowded space. You have to have a different approach to travel content to rise above the clutter, or so says everyone and anyone trying to create some pageviews from travel content.
It’s always been a fact that quality images sell travel. So in addition to being sharp investigators, Oyster’s reporters have photo skills – in some cases enhanced with intense training and strict guidelines to get specific shots- to ensure consistency in quality and provide a significant number of viewpoints. And certainly, there’s some stunning photography in the pages, over 200 shots in most hotel profiles, so the quantity and quality of photography is there – something you won’t (necessarily) see on UGC travel sites, Seidman added, and aren’t photoshopped like the hotels may do on their own websites. And yes, there are images of the bad stuff- like this hairball in the tub of a South Beach bargain.
To Oyster’s credit, they are taking a nice (although perhaps not necessarily earth-shattering) approach to creating content with the theory that these experienced journalists can create ‘a full reality’ for travelers between investigating all aspects of a hotel, its amenities and surrounding environment, as well as a little bit about local customs and culture, which as travelers know, can vary greatly from one destination to the next.
Two positive examples of quality information that defy your average travel guide recipe, but build on the idea of getting attention in search & social media:
1) Oyster capitalizes on themes for popular activities in destinations:
Best Hotels for Cliff Jumping in Jamaica:
View full slideshow on Oyster.com
2) Oyster Pros & Cons provide a concise, easy to digest overview for travelers – these are present both in destination guides and in hotel reviews. The copy also isn’t afraid to take a controversial tone:
Negatives are Positives: Facts May Keep You from WRONG Vacation
So two things jump out here. The mere fact that this particular overview of Jamaica includes insights on partying, drugs and criminal activity, warns that this is perhaps not the most family-friendly destination. Digging deeper into Oyster’s “Best Family Friendly Hotels in Jamaica“, you find out which resorts have rusty playgrounds (hint: it’s a brand commonly known for luxury) and which allow guests to smoke in the pool. These nuggets are certainly not the type of information Costco Travel gives out when trying to convice you to book the same resorts in Jamaica. Similarly, noting that Jamaica is not the most GLBT friendly location is a highly useful bit of information for those less experienced travelers in that segment. Lastly, plenty of links to external sources round out areas where they are not information experts.
It’s interesting to note, that while I was writing this article, I received a notification from TravelMuse, informing me that they’ve opted to discontinue the editorial side of things, probably due to the cost of churning out freelance content on a weekly basis, and not necessarily being able to monetize that traffic, or just perhaps under budget tightening. Their creative concept also relied on an editorial staff managing the online equivalent of monthly ‘issues’ from hundred of freelancers (at a rate that sharply undermined traditional travelwriters- but that’s another story) and utlizing high quality photography (free) licensed under creative commons on Flickr.
In contrast, Oyster reporters are full-time employees, paid competitively (with benefits) not just for their rigorous travel duties (oh yes, lounging by the pool ‘observing’ service levels is sooooo tough…) but also for their skilled research, write-ups and photos. Eytan noted it was well worth paying for really good people who help create a great product. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, they always get people volunteering for the job. The temptation is hard to resist – as I gently (ok, blatantly) encouraged Eytan that ski / snowboard resort destinations are clearly the next destinations they simply must cover, and that I just may be able to clear my schedule if they have any needs in that area. Not-so-joking aside, I think he was honestly surprised to hear that I didn’t propose other sunny destinations like Hawaii and the ever popular Orlando. I also found it interesting that while Oyster wants to conduct ’secret shopper’ reviews, that they chose to completely out (in the interest of transparency) the full names of their reporters here, which is a potentially risky strategy, because you better believe that if Peter Greenberg or Arthur Frommer checks into a hotel that management wasn’t already comping, they are immediately on the radar to receive VIP attention.
Speaking of monetization
Oh yes, there has to be a monetization plan – particularly in this economy. And the current economy surely is presenting added pressure by Oyster’s VC firms. But the basic strategy is to provide current rates and links to travel booking engines such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, and Orbitz whenever possible. Though not all choices are necessarily available on every hotel property. That said, some critics may be quick to say that because Oyster earns a cut of revenue on these bookings, that it’s not in their best interest to post negative data about hotels. Never fear, you will find some less than stellar examples – just click “ALL HOTELS”, then sort by low to high ratings.
In my time as travel journalist, let me just say – there’s plenty of ways to polish a turd without risking credibility or being overtly critical, and Oyster has started down this path. Forewarned is forearmed in my opinion – if travelers are on a budget, and know exactly what to expect for $79/night in South Beach, Miami – which incidently includes listening to the loudest party bars on the strip, then they may be ok with that, if they were looking to join the action – they didn’t even expect to be in the room that much anyway -it’s fine. And hotels benefit from honest critiques – whether UGC or professionally driven – most would honestly rather not have a guest who is never satisfied with anything you do for them, in spite of their best efforts. But any hotel which does not do a satisfactory job describing their amenities, service or location, deserves what they get from the guest, both in person and later in poor online reviews. Seidman also says there’s plenty of channels for dialog with hotels not satisfied with their ratings.
In addition to the partner booking engines, advertising from DMO’s and CVB’s is mentioned as a monetization strategy, but not currently in play on most pages.
Search specifics
Most people looking at Oyster for the first time are absolutely going to say “so what?” – it’s small and is well behind its competitors in scale. True, there’s nothing immediately innovative about Oyster search itself, other than the content factor. Since Eytan Seidman is a man rooted in search, you can’t underestimate the value of relevancy in its algo, which is ultimately based on the depth of content a search tool is churning through. In addition to a default ranking system based on several factors, Seidman also admits that what they really need to help refine the search algorithm at this point is user data.
Seidman points out that Oyster’s most valuable search asset is their unique content, that they are blending the inspirational aspect of travel search with specific data requests – whether they be traditional traveler requirements (spa, pets welcome, beachfront) to more experiential themes (if vodka, for example, is your #1 vacation must-have), and not least of all, budget – travelers can hone in on the right vacation experience for their expectations. Oyster is also taking the approach to remove geography from primary search, and leave it to the user selects a particular destination to narrow results.
In the spirit of Oyster’s simplified Pro & Con style, here’s a rundown of its features:
Pros
- Lightning fast search results as you select options.
- Clean user interface.
- Compelling content – imagery & copy.
- User comments are allowed.
- Depth of data.
Cons
- Lacking breadth of data / limited destinations.
- Less than 500 total reviews.
- Failure to highlight user query (terms) in results. A search for ‘scuba‘ doesn’t immediately encourage users to click one result over the next.
- Pearl rating system isn’t yet explained to users.
Only time will tell if Oyster can scale to be a serious competitor in the hotel reviews space, and it will ultimately come down to time, scale and logistics for this small player to become a trusted resource in the space. As Greg Sterling says in his brief post, “assuming good SEO, Oyster could become a visible and more trustworthy source of hotel reviews.”
What do you think? Is Oyster.com going to be one to watch, and (possibly) go head to head with TripAdvisor? Is there room for them to become a specialized resource for hotel reviews, given their focus on top destination markets?
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