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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS
Oyster Hotel Reviews: Countering Users' Mob Mentality  rooms per trip. OHR is growing a database of on-the-ground expert reviews so travelers know exactly what they are getting from a hotel before they arrive. While users submit hotel reviews at most of the major editorial and retail travel sites, “the thing that is missing in travel is someone who spends all day every day rating hotels and rates them all on the same objective criteria,” says Ariel Charytan, co-founder and chief creative officer. “Car and Driver has writers who spend their days driving cars. That doesn’t exist in hotels. We love user-generated content. But what we are bringing to the conversation is one person who has been to 50 hotels in the last six months as opposed to 50 people who have been to a handful.” Charytan believes that the Web 2.0 ethic of crowdsourcing all information and relying on the purported wisdom of the crowds has natural limits. “We struck a chord among journalists who said, yeah, we do have value to add to the conversation. The users can’t answer everything. The role of expertise in a Web 2.0 world has been diminished, and people will seek out our experts.” The Oyster.com approach is to counterbalance the my-two-cents methodology of Web 2.0 with an apples-to-apples comparison based on an actual manual the company uses to train writers, some of whom come to the pub from established travel magazines and sites. There is a 71-point checklist of items and actions a writer must run through in each room, from judging the quality of the mattresses and sheets to the staff’s receptiveness to special requests. Writers spend two weeks a month on the road collecting data and impressions, and the other two are back at the New York office churning out the content, which is now up to 500 hotel reviews. The site does accept reader feedback, but it has learned its lesson from the many other travel sites whose user reviews are tainted by PR puffery and planted reviews from the hotels themselves. Oyster.com decided to use Facebook Connect as a means for registering and vetting users. By using the Facebook APIs, Oyster requires that all posters are using their Facebook ID to log on and comment. This approach creates greater transparency, forcing the commentator to reveal his or her identity or corporate affiliation in the post. “Before we used Facebook Connect we had tons of fraudulent comments,” says Charytan. “Now if you are willing to show your own name and face you can say what you want.” How can Oyster Hotel Reviews afford this ambitious investment in expert editorial? Well, don’t look for the ads. The VC-funded effort has already attracted $6.5 million and is focused on building a critical mass of editorial and traffic before bringing the proposition to advertisers. The company has been in stealth mode for much of the year as its reviewers built a database of 500 reviews covering many of the major destinations. The Las Vegas section is set to launch shortly. As for hiring? “We employ 30 people—15 tech and support and 15 editorial, and we have openings to add another 10 to the editorial team. We are well-funded and we have to focus on the challenge we have undertaken,” says Charytan. If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com COMMENTS
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