Recent Posts
- Let The Debate Begin
- A Clever Use Of Facebook
- Marriott Adds Porno Pop-Ups
- Odds & Ends
- Hotel Ad Doesn't Push Envelope, It Flushes It
- The Mystery Of Phone Charges
- Random Act Of Kindness
- Attention To Detail Rocks
- Have A Bad Online Reputation? Manage It
- Hawthorn Takes Chance With Guest Comments
Recent Comments
- cynterrose on Random Act Of Kindness
- suri,from Bahrain on Marriott Adds Porno Pop-Ups
- Adam Kirby on Random Act Of Kindness
- Rosa R on Random Act Of Kindness
- Jess Wonderin on A Clever Use Of Facebook
Most Commented On
- Wi-Fi: Give It Away Now (13)
- Free Wi-Fi Is A Pandora's Box Already Open (11)
- Paying For Wi-Fi 'Makes Me Angry' (10)
- In Defense Of Free Wi-Fi (9)
- Marriott Adds Porno Pop-Ups (7)
Archives
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
Blog
VibeAgent Shifts Focus From Web 2.0
July 17, 2008
In an e-mail to users yesterday, VibeAgent.com announced a fundamental market and product repositioning that shifts its focus from being a hotel-centric social networking community to follow a more traditional travel search engine formula.
VibeAgent's revolutionary algorithm-based technology, which learns users' preferences and interests and sorts search results accordingly, remains intact. (Read my article about this kind of technology from the July issue of HOTELS here.) But the re-launched site places less emphasis on community interaction, for which it has struggled to find a devoted following. That functionality is still there, but it's now a secondary concern.
"The difference from our previous site and positioning is that we were more focused on developing a hotel review community first, and establishing a hotel search engine second," VibeAgent founder Adam Healey tells me. "While we're still developing our community, we realize that the best way to do this is to create a best-of-breed search engine first, and then enable registered users access to additional personalized functionality that incrementally improves their site experience."
Healey promises two more newsworthy announcements over the next month regarding the site's future functionality.
Posted by Adam Kirby on July 17, 2008 | Comments (2)
In response to: VibeAgent Shifts Focus From Web 2.0
Aaron Fish commented:
This sounds like a smart business strategy. This approach has really let Amazon and others become popular, and by also having the possibility of some form of social networking to support the personalization, VibeAgent might be able to really make some noise amongst online travel sites.
In response to: VibeAgent Shifts Focus From Web 2.0
Adam Kirby commented:
I happen to personally agree, Aaron. I think there's a place for VibeAgent's social networking component, but it needs to develop organically. Users first need to be engaged with the primary product, which is the hotel review aspect. Once they find some comfort there, the community will grow naturally.