MAJOR improvement: TA Listens! Finally!

[Arks]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

 

[Morticia]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

I had a guest say they preferred yelp, of all things!
I was trying to find a phone number today and none of the places had a website. I had to use the map. I clicked and got a Yelp page. The whole top of the page was ads from similar businesses. Not the actual business's info. Why, again, would I pay Yelp for a listing?

 

[OnTheShore]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

I had a guest say they preferred yelp, of all things!
I was trying to find a phone number today and none of the places had a website. I had to use the map. I clicked and got a Yelp page. The whole top of the page was ads from similar businesses. Not the actual business's info. Why, again, would I pay Yelp for a listing?
.

Well, when you pay Yelp, the ads for other business on your listing page go away. Supposedly.

 

[Anon Inn]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

I've never paid them. I used to get A LOT of business from them due to the reviews. Last year way down. This year will likely be nothing from them unless I start TripConnect. I'll try it I think.

 

[Anon Inn]

Lodgings of all sorts that use bkng dot con and are in my general region show up first. I am now about 20 down the list even if I specify bed and breakfast. My description still states #1 but is effectively no longer visible. At all.
I've just signed up for Trip Connect. We'll see how it goes.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/CostPerClick

 

[gillumhouse]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

I've never paid them. I used to get A LOT of business from them due to the reviews. Last year way down. This year will likely be nothing from them unless I start TripConnect. I'll try it I think.
.

If they cannot get you to part with your money one way, they will find another.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Lodgings of all sorts that use bkng dot con and are in my general region show up first. I am now about 20 down the list even if I specify bed and breakfast. My description still states #1 but is effectively no longer visible. At all.
I've just signed up for Trip Connect. We'll see how it goes.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/CostPerClick.

I've just signed up for Trip Connect. We'll see how it goes.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/CostPerClick

Good move! Was just analyzing my TC clicks and they've gone up substantially! Trip Connect definitely works.

 

[JimBoone]

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable, the app on my phone still lists hotels, inns, and specialty as choices under "filter", also seems to place those with OTA listings at the top unless you also choose to sort by ranking.

 

[Momma Smurf]

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable, the app on my phone still lists hotels, inns, and specialty as choices under "filter", also seems to place those with OTA listings at the top unless you also choose to sort by ranking..

Desktop is now automatically incorporating B&Bs into all combined results. However, since Best Value is now the default setting (which mainly focuses on price) OTAs will always appear towards the top, which is why Trip connect is necessary. If TA can't access your prices, then there is no way to rank you for Value, and zoom to the bottom you go. Better to pay a few cents per click than 15%+ to OTAs and lose your direct bookings.

 

[Anon Inn]

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!.

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!

Not a chance. TA has treated their B&B customers like garbage for way too long. I'm not paying over $1000 to have a TA business listing PLUS pay even more for TripConnect. Google's reviews carry more SEO weight online than TA anyway and Google is free.
I think TripAdvisor realizes that Google's reviews are putting them out of business. Google also has a "TripConnect"-type link via the OTAs. If you're listed on an OTA, you've already got a paid link. TripAdvisor is on its way out. Good riddance!
.

BTW, we had $28958 in reservations last year from TA. Trip Connect cost was $260. A whopping 111% ROI booked directly through us. Commission costs via an OTA would have been a minimum $4344 along with all the hassle 3rd party guests present. Seriously??
Folks need to keep an open mind re the constant flux in our industry. It's not black or white. Good or evil. It's all about using objective analysis to achieve success vs tying oneself down with preconceived notions and bias.
.

I hope I’ve set this up correctly. I un-clicked all the the country boxes except for the US and European countries previous guests have come from.
I didn’t see how to place a bid on click amounts but did set my daily max to US$10.
any idea how long to see a change in visibility results?

 

[Momma Smurf]

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!.

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!

Not a chance. TA has treated their B&B customers like garbage for way too long. I'm not paying over $1000 to have a TA business listing PLUS pay even more for TripConnect. Google's reviews carry more SEO weight online than TA anyway and Google is free.
I think TripAdvisor realizes that Google's reviews are putting them out of business. Google also has a "TripConnect"-type link via the OTAs. If you're listed on an OTA, you've already got a paid link. TripAdvisor is on its way out. Good riddance!
.

BTW, we had $28958 in reservations last year from TA. Trip Connect cost was $260. A whopping 111% ROI booked directly through us. Commission costs via an OTA would have been a minimum $4344 along with all the hassle 3rd party guests present. Seriously??
Folks need to keep an open mind re the constant flux in our industry. It's not black or white. Good or evil. It's all about using objective analysis to achieve success vs tying oneself down with preconceived notions and bias.
.

I hope I’ve set this up correctly. I un-clicked all the the country boxes except for the US and European countries previous guests have come from.
I didn’t see how to place a bid on click amounts but did set my daily max to US$10.
any idea how long to see a change in visibility results?
.

Yes, exactly. Unclick all those other click-bait countries!
If you go to your Campaign Manager, there should be an Edit Button under the average CPC? Or it may not show until you get results.
Who are you using for Reservations? You may also need to enable TC in their External Connections. John from RK stated that it takes a few days to filter between TA and them.

 

[Arks]

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable, the app on my phone still lists hotels, inns, and specialty as choices under "filter", also seems to place those with OTA listings at the top unless you also choose to sort by ranking..

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable...

I'm really happy. I went from being invisible unless you selected the "B&B & Inns" section, to being listed second, right under the chain place that's $50/night cheaper than I am. My reviews and "bubbles" are much better than theirs, but they have more reviews, and are much cheaper, so I guess that wins the formula calculation, for this week at least.
But now they list me as a Bed and Breakfast, which I'm not. So that will cost me some "no B&B" people, and it will cause confusion with people who expect breakfast and won't get one. Oh well, it's better than it was, but still not perfect!

 

[Generic]

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable, the app on my phone still lists hotels, inns, and specialty as choices under "filter", also seems to place those with OTA listings at the top unless you also choose to sort by ranking..

So far it seems our ranking has changed favorable...

I'm really happy. I went from being invisible unless you selected the "B&B & Inns" section, to being listed second, right under the chain place that's $50/night cheaper than I am. My reviews and "bubbles" are much better than theirs, but they have more reviews, and are much cheaper, so I guess that wins the formula calculation, for this week at least.
But now they list me as a Bed and Breakfast, which I'm not. So that will cost me some "no B&B" people, and it will cause confusion with people who expect breakfast and won't get one. Oh well, it's better than it was, but still not perfect!
.

Maybe it hasn't trickled it's way here, or won't. We move up and down by 1 or 2 every few days, but basically stay the same. And we are still filtered out on the app, because well, we are B&B.

 

[Copperhead]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.

 

[Momma Smurf]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.
.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.

Yes, I've used a separate cloned Res Key page for TA from the get-go. I use the RK star codes to filter mine.
I also have individual RK pages linked to all my other referral sources to easily keep track. Aids in monitoring your RK Availability Searches also.

 

[Arks]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.
.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.

I've had that all along. Just never thought to color code it so I could check it! Thanks.

 

[Arks]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.
.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.

Yes, I've used a separate cloned Res Key page for TA from the get-go. I use the RK star codes to filter mine.
I also have individual RK pages linked to all my other referral sources to easily keep track. Aids in monitoring your RK Availability Searches also.
.

Yes, I've used a separate cloned Res Key page for TA from the get-go. I use the RK star codes to filter mine.

Does the star appear automatically when the reservation comes through TA, or do you have to manually star it?

 

[Momma Smurf]

How does tripadvisor work? You pay them a fee and they list a link to your booking engine on your site? How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee? What is trip connect?
I can go read up on tripadvisor to find answers but I'm more interested in your personal experiences.

How much business do you get from trip advisor?.

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

How do their fees work is it pay per click or a flat fee?

I pay per click. Most months they bill me about $10. For that, I get an "Official Site" button on my TA listing. When it's clicked, it takes the guest to my own ResKey reservation page.
I wish the button said "Hotel Site" or something more clear, because most people probably don't know what "Official Site" means.

.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.
.

Thank you! That helps. Would you say you get many bookings from them?

I'm paying about $1/click. I checked and last month I had 55 clicks, so will be paying a lot more than the $10 I mentioned above. But I'm not tracking how many clicks turn into booked rooms. I'm just glad they're clicking.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.
.

Arks, set up a separate reservation page in ResKey for TA, have it pull the same availability as your website reservation page. I have all reservations from the TA ppc appear in red on my reservation calendar so I can track.

Yes, I've used a separate cloned Res Key page for TA from the get-go. I use the RK star codes to filter mine.
I also have individual RK pages linked to all my other referral sources to easily keep track. Aids in monitoring your RK Availability Searches also.
.

Yes, I've used a separate cloned Res Key page for TA from the get-go. I use the RK star codes to filter mine.

Does the star appear automatically when the reservation comes through TA, or do you have to manually star it?
.

I manually Star it. Does Copper have a way to automatically make it Red? Would like to know how?

 

[Anon Inn]

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!.

This is awesome! AND the reason why everyone should join TripConnect ASAP so your results won't be buried!

Not a chance. TA has treated their B&B customers like garbage for way too long. I'm not paying over $1000 to have a TA business listing PLUS pay even more for TripConnect. Google's reviews carry more SEO weight online than TA anyway and Google is free.
I think TripAdvisor realizes that Google's reviews are putting them out of business. Google also has a "TripConnect"-type link via the OTAs. If you're listed on an OTA, you've already got a paid link. TripAdvisor is on its way out. Good riddance!
.

BTW, we had $28958 in reservations last year from TA. Trip Connect cost was $260. A whopping 111% ROI booked directly through us. Commission costs via an OTA would have been a minimum $4344 along with all the hassle 3rd party guests present. Seriously??
Folks need to keep an open mind re the constant flux in our industry. It's not black or white. Good or evil. It's all about using objective analysis to achieve success vs tying oneself down with preconceived notions and bias.
.

I hope I’ve set this up correctly. I un-clicked all the the country boxes except for the US and European countries previous guests have come from.
I didn’t see how to place a bid on click amounts but did set my daily max to US$10.
any idea how long to see a change in visibility results?
.

Yes, exactly. Unclick all those other click-bait countries!
If you go to your Campaign Manager, there should be an Edit Button under the average CPC? Or it may not show until you get results.
Who are you using for Reservations? You may also need to enable TC in their External Connections. John from RK stated that it takes a few days to filter between TA and them.
.

ResKey. Thank you, I've just done TC in External Connections.

 

[Anon Inn]

Not sure it's the plus we wanted. Maybe if you're in a place with 10 overall properties. If there are 200, with large hotels in the mix, your mom and pop shop may find themselves buried..

So far that's exactly what happened to me.
The one inn signed up with bkg is top of list. But I'm just not going there unless I absolutely have to. Not this year at any rate.