Here's Google!!

The US travel industry is facing a terrible year, thanks to credit crunched consumers and a weak US dollar. But Google sees an online opportunity in the struggling industry. The search giant plans to expand its travel offering, which currently seems to be confined to one-off videos and ads from tourism boards. In the future, the site will have marketer-sponsored pages where would-be vacationers can learn tons about a destination and see related user-generated content. Check out this link to a YouTube New Zealand channel for an idea of the kinds of videos destined for such pages. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Surely some of you read the recent article / blog post from Business Week declaring Google's intentions to jump into the heavily crowded field of travel planning. The story goes on to say that Google is thinking about creating 'a one-stop shop for travel information' as well as citing a recent (and still active) campaign from the New Zealand Office of Tourism...'Nearly 900,000 people have watched a New Zealand tourism board’s video ad since it was uploaded to YouTube last September. That kind of traffic is bound to draw marketers.'

But, before you start waving the white flag to the titan of all things search, let's take a step back.

First, talk of Google Travel has been around for a while, as evidence by a search for 'Google Travel'...since at least 2004...bloggers have speculated at length about the amazing integrations possible with Google Talk, Google Video (YouTube), AdSense, etc, etc. So, the news of Google Travel is nothing new.

Secondly, Google already has a seat at the table when it comes to online travel planning. Offerings including search, maps, photos, videos, weather, news, directions, etc. and are already heavily used by, what I would safely assume, a lot of travelers. In fact, bloggers even mocked-up this Google Travel page (not bad) almost 2 years ago. Plus, the team at Google Maps recently posted an entry on using Google Maps to plan a vacation. As you can see, travel is already a large part of Google's offerings and our usage of the site.

And keep in mind, Google, unlike Yahoo or MSN, is not (really) in the content creation business. Last time I checked, they don't have sports columnists or writers...they pull, collect, aggregate and display content from around the web in an easy to use format.

Which is another reason why you need to break down the wall around your website and start creating and offering content on sites such as TripAdvisor, WikiTravel, Flickr, YouTube, etc, etc, etc. Google, like a lot of sites, travel or not, pull content from these types of sites.

Now, as far as YouTube and that New Zealand spot. New Zealand has done a good job creating and promoting their Pure New Zealand channel on YouTube. The spots are great and the traffic is impressive. But, this was certainly not pulled together on a shoestring budget...so forget those thoughts of your homemade travel commercial receiving millions of visits.

At a conference last year, a rep from YouTube highlighted this campaign and proceeded to tell the group that the cost was somewhere in the neighborhood of $250k. And that $250k will get you prominent placement on the YouTube homepage, which is where the majority of those 900,000 views have come from. As our friends at Travolution pointed out in a recent post, the next closest video New Zealand video has only 26,016 views (similar to other 'viral' travel promo videos). A good result, but no where near 900,000.

Not to mention that Weta Digital, the company behind the impressive effects in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and a New Zealand company) just happened to help out with some of the effects on that popular video. Not bad.

So, the next time you are at a conference and hear someone talking about how Google is going to take over the travel space, you can tell them it has already happened...for a price.

Travel Trends - Deltalina, YouTube, Michigan, Wealthy Consumers

Deltalina - From now on, all Delta flights are smokin'. (Zing!)

That oh so cute line from the Atlanta Journal Constitution is in reference to the increasing publicity that Delta and more specifically, Katherine Lee (Delta + Angelina (Jolie) = Deltalina...which was thankfully not coined by yours truly) is receiving from the mainstream media and YouTube. Our friends over at Under the Wing premiered the new in-flight video on the blog February 20th via YouTube. The new in-flight video was probably not the most interesting video on paper, but communicating this new video (or any new or 'exclusive' content) to a loyal group of users via a blog is an ideal way to build consumer trust and loyalty (and having Katherine in the video does not hurt). Plus, posting the video on YouTube extends the reach of the spot beyond the blog...7 comments on the Delta blog, 624 on YouTube. Not to mention over 400,000 views and national media coverage.

Which brings us to an interesting point, how does Delta measure all of that coverage?

There are several ways to address that question...number of comments, views, time spent, traditional media coverage, etc. But I would be interested to know if Delta is looking at this viral campaign as a way to sell seats or as another piece in building the new Delta brand.
http://blog.delta.com/

YouTube Launches Insight - Google has introduced a free YouTube tool that will provide those who post clips -- whether they are semiprofessionals or media conglomerates -- with deeper insights into when, where and how often their videos are viewed. Using YouTube Insight, publishers can analyze the viewing patterns of individual videos far more thoroughly than in the past, when only total views and users ratings were available. For example, with the new tool, any content producer who posts videos on YouTube can examine which days of the week or hours of the day traffic spikes; which U.S. states account for the most viewing streams; and how long particular clips remain popular.
http://www.adweek.com/

Michigan Rolls Out New Design - The team up in Michigan has launched a new design for Michigan.org. The new look is clean and uncluttered, plus easy to read. The large image in the background is a nice touch, and one that we have seen in a couple other state-level sites. However, the biggest change is breaking away from the Michigan Economic Development Corp's website. No need to tell travelers about the great tax breaks for opening a diner in Lansing...just get them to the state first.
http://www.michigan.org/

Wealthy Consumers - Some good stats from the Center for Media Research on Wealthy Consumers and social networking sites:

According to The Luxury Institute's latest WealthSurvey, the participation of wealthy online consumers in social networks dramatically increased to 60% in 2008, from 27% in 2007. Participation levels of online wealthy consumers in leading social networks are 16% for MySpace, 13% for LinkedIn, and 11% for Facebook.

A national sample of 805 wealthy American consumers, with an average income of $287K and average net worth of $2.1 million, was surveyed online. According to the report:

- The wealthy average membership in 2.8 social networks, with an average of 110 connections.

- They are intolerant of opt-out techniques, with 65% saying that having their personal data given out without permission would cause them to disconnect; 63% have an interest in "do not track" lists.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/

You've Got Video

Well, I've got video.

We talk a lot on the Travel 2.0 blog about other sites, ads, trends and technologies throughout the travel industry, but never too much about ourselves (Arizona Office of Tourism and Travel Oregon). I mean, how much more can you take? Well, now it is your turn to critique some of our work.

One of our (my co-worker Johnny and I) major projects at AOT for the past few months has been creating a rich library of video about the Grand Canyon State for our consumers. Luckily, our relationship with Arizona Highways Television provides us with a wealth of footage from around the state. After partnering with Arizona Highways Television, we looked for a robust, yet easy to use and manage video hosting solution.

We looked at using YouTube or Google Video (same thing, I know) as a solution, but alas I want too much control for YouTube. Plus, I don't like that little YouTube logo on my videos. After some research we settled on the Brightcove Platform.

When looking for a video platform, we were looking for several key functions...usability, integration, ease of use, customization, flexibility and control. And so far the Brightcove system has been easy to implement and manage. Plus, it comes with all of the standard viral tools...email to friend, link, embed, etc.

I invite all of the Travel 2.0 readers to take a look at the new section:

http://www.arizonaguide.com/video/

Please note the section is still in the development stages, so we are still tweaking a few things as well as adding addition videos. Eventually, we will be offering several hundred short clips about attractions and experiences in the state.

In addition to this centralized location, the videos will be integrated throughout arizonaguide.com within related sections, cities and attractions.

The new video section has certainly been a lot of work, but I am excited to present this new offering to our consumers. I really believe this level of video will enhance there visit to arizonaguide.com and increase actual visitation to the state.

As Mo and I have talked about ad nauseum, engaging your consumer is key in this new 'Web 2.0' world. For the Arizona Office of Tourism, taking advantage of our partnerships to introduce this level of video is just one of the ways we are increasing engagement among our visitors.

I will continue this post once we start seeing some numbers on viewership and engagement, but for now take a look and let me know what you think.

Oh, and if anyone is looking at developing a video site, I would be happy to share my experience and thoughts.

Travel Trends - South Carolina, College Kids

Time to Thaw - The South Carolina Department of Tourism has recently launched a cold weather message campaign in the city of Chicago which drives consumers to the 'Time to Thaw' microsite. The microsite contains your standard info, a cute little 'thaw' button that melts some ice, a video, etc. Nothing groundbreaking or one-of-a-kind, but a solid campaign microsite none the less. Of course my favorite part of the site is the 'submit a Windsurfin' Wall Photo Contest' which features Chicagoans in a variety of funny poses. See Jeb above. Nice.
http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com/time-to-thaw/

College Kids Have Too Much Time On Their Hands - Or, at least I think so. eMarketer.com brings us this report from Youth Trends showing website usage from college level consumers.

Survey says:

The discrepancy between the top ten sites for Males and Females is no surprise, however the use of Wikipedia by guys may suggest quite a few term papers are being referenced from the popular wiki site.

As far as usage, the one stat that stands out to me is only 2% of users have uploaded their own videos. However, no surprise that virtual communities, i.e. Second Life, are low on the list.

Considering most of us over the age of 22 think that everyone younger than 22 are the ones populating such culturally rich sites like break.com (warning, stupid guy humor), it is a bit surprising to see that stat.

However, I think a lot of us who have run a consumer-generated video promotion have discovered that we are a society who would rather watch than work.
http://www.emarketer.com/

You Never Would Have Seen This Without The Internet

I try not to clutter up the Interactive Trend Report with too many of those 'amazing' videos floating around the internet (the kind you get from your Uncle or roommate), but every once and while a video will catch my eye.

From our friends at Upgrade: Travel Better, check out this amazing video (see above or follow this link if you are reading this post via email) of a passenger train in Bangkok street market. Not only is the video amazing (be sure to watch the whole clip), but it also serves as another example of how our world is becoming smaller due to technology.

Prior to YouTube and other video sharing sites, most of us would probably never have seen, heard or read the countless videos, pictures and stories now available online...unless we were to travel there ourselves.

Travel Trends - TripAdvisor, YouTube, Customer Service

TripAdvisor Shows Off New Look In U.K. - TripAdvisor U.K. rolled out a likely preview of an upcoming site refresh for the state-side travel review site. The updated site, launched in the U.K. this month, features a cleaner look and addresses some of the usage issues that have begun to affect the growing content on the site's homepage. While the new look is not guaranteed to be rolled out on TripAdvisor.com, some of the new design will surely make it's way to the site.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/

Put the YouTube video on Google Earth - Ah, good old synergy. Google announced earlier this month that users of Google Earth will now be able to upload and view YouTube videos linked to specific locations within the program. So, if you are searching Google Earth for the Tower of London, you could also watch related videos from the area around a specific location.
http://www.reuters.com/

I Heart Zappos - A fantastic story circulating online about the power of customer service and blogging. A normal woman...a writer, cook and blogger...writes a simple entry into her blog about an extremely positive experience with online shoe retailer Zappos.com. People read it, email it, pass it around...and now, if you search for the words 'I Heart Zappos' in Google, you receive 223,000 results, most of which about this story. Public relations and viral marketing that you just cannot pay for. Plus, great customer service at it's best.
http://www.zazlamarr.com/blog/

Travel Trends - YouTube, Statistics

YouTube Ad Plan Shuns Pre-Rolls - YouTube, via Google, announced today that it has decided not to use pre-roll advertising on YouTube for part of it's ad model. The plan was due in part to the terrible response during testing, with a 15 second pre-roll spot having an abandonment rate of 75 percent. YouTube will now work on perfecting 'overlay' ads with a few content providers. The article also mentions that YouTube does not plan on placing advertising on user-generated videos. An interesting side note to the story, if Google and YouTube are not backing the pre-roll ads, is this the beginning of the end for the pre-roll ad? Would you serve up an ad that 75% of people click to get away from?
http://www.adweek.com

The Numbers Game - A good article from Fortune sums up the current debate about online measurement...a set of standards is needed. Consider, as the article points out, Yahoo!'s stats for the month of June. ComScore measures it at 133 million, while Nielsen//NetRatings claims it was 108 million. Too many sources reporting too many different statistics.
http://money.cnn.com

Travel Trends - VibeAgent, Boo.com, YouTube, Twitter

VibeAgent - Still in private beta (not open to the public), VibeAgent is hotel search / booking engine site where members can create a network of trusted friends and groups that share similar interests, locations, destinations or opinions. (If you want to take a look at the site, let me know...I have 5 invitations to the private beta site.)
http://www.vibeagent.com

Boo.com - A fashion site in a former life, boo.com jumps into the social-networking travel space offering users a way to 'quickly sift through the more than 50,000 hotels in 165 countries available through boo.com, creating a manageable and meaningful handful of choices.' Interestingly, boo.com will then let users book directly with the hotel's site, rather than an Expedia-like booking site. Plus, boo.com allows users to create 'boo crews', groups of friends you can rely on for information...very similar to the new offering from TripAdvisor and the soon-to-be offering from VibeAgent.
http://www.boo.com/

YouTube - Is YouTube heading down the same slippery slope that AOL slid down several years ago? Simon Dumenco at Advertising Age draws some interesting comparisons in his opinion column. More and more, content providers are asking the question, why can't we do this too?
http://www.adage.com

Twitter - Go ahead and call it the next big thing...a lot of people already are. Based on a simple question, 'What are you doing?', Twitter allows users to post mini blog entries on their Twitter page via SMS, instant messaging or email. Then, your friends or 'followers' can receive constant updates on what you are doing.
http://twitter.com/