28 things you might not know about TripAdvisor
27 June 2016
Things you might not know about TripAdvisor
As well as claiming to be the biggest travel website in the world, TripAdvisor is also one of the most-visited websites on the internet. We round up some of the most interesting facts behind the scenes of everybody’s favorite travel guide.
TripAdvisor wasn’t always about reviews
TripAdvisor was originally designed as a business to business tool, rather than a customer feedback site. But once travelers started using it to comment, it quickly adapted, and has now transformed into the biggest travel site online.
It was founded above a pizza shop
The company was founded in 2000 by a group of people including Stephen Kaufer and Langley Steinart, in a little office right above a pizza shop called Kosta’s in Needham, Massachusetts (pictured left). As you can see, the office was pretty tiny, but even more noticeably so when compared with the firm's headquarters today (pictured right), which we'll come back to later on.
And it is now owned by a different company
TripAdvisor was purchased by IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2004, which went on to spin off its travel group of businesses under the name of Expedia Inc. in 2005.
It earns billions
In 2015, the company recorded a total revenue of £1.49 billion (£1.13 billion), the majority of which came from, and continues to come from, click-based advertising and display-based advertising.
60 million people are signed up to TripAdvisor
A staggering 60 million people are signed up to the website, but it also attracts around 300 million unique users every month as it has become the go-to destination for businesses, travelers, critics and bloggers.
There are 170 million reviews on the site
The number of reviews has surged consistently since it first launched and is a considerable jump from its 10th million milestone back in 2007.
The ratings are actually measured in bubbles, not stars
You’ve probably never really noticed, but the ratings are given in little circles that look like bubbles, rather than in traditional stars. According to TripAdvisor, star ratings are possible, but they are determined by a third party, while bubble ratings are those given by travelers based on their feedback.
The top contributor has posted over 4,500 reviews
TripAdvisor member BradJill from Hong Kong has posted the most reviews in the history of the site.
The first review was of a hotel in Massachusetts
The very first traveler review was of Captain’s House Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts, which earned a total of four bubbles. This was of course the first of millions more to come.
The most reviewed city in the world is London
With over 1.8 million reviews, England’s capital is the most reviewed city.
And the most reviewed nation is the USA
Although there are reviews on Trip Advisor for businesses all over the world, the most commonly reviewed nation is the USA. The least is Tuvalu – a tiny (but very beautiful) little island in the South Pacific, somewhere between Australia and Hawaii.
A traveler once wrote a review of 13,047 words
The longest review written in 2015 was published by a contributor from New Jersey, USA, who wrote an incredibly long piece about Aulani – a Disney resort and spa located in Hawaii.
The highest-rated hotel is in Las Vegas
Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas is the hotel with the most five-bubble ratings with around 14,000 reviews. The most reviewed restaurant is also in Las Vegas – Mon Ami Gabi, a French bistro, has received around 5,000 reviews on the site.
The Eiffel Tower is the most reviewed attraction in the world
Paris’ most iconic landmark is the most talked about attraction in the world, according to TripAdvisor, with a staggering 23,000 people stopping by the website to leave reviews of the iron tower.
TripAdvisor has received numerous lawsuits for its branding
TripAdvisor originally built its brand on the strapline “World’s most trusted travel site”, but it received numerous lawsuits across different countries, which claimed that not all comments and reviews were honest, real or trusted. It subsequently removed ‘trusted’ and ‘honest’ from its trademark to become ‘World’s largest travel site’.
Hotels can pay for perks
As much as we’re sure they’d like to, hotels can’t ask for their listing to be removed. But what they can do is to pay for a subscription run by TripAdvisor called the Business Listing. This allows hotels to increase their exposure, get performance data and access traffic no matter what their reviews or ratings are. It doesn’t come cheap, though, as prices range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on the size of the hotel.
Charity donations
Each year, TripAdvisor gives 2% of its earnings from the year before to the TripAdvisor Charitable Foundation, where the money is distributed to global non-profit organizations. Last year, the foundation donated $250,000 (£190,000) to two organizations providing essential assistance to refugees. Employees are also entitled to apply for grants to support a chosen charity.
There are nearly two reviews posted every second
A mammoth 115 contributions are posted every single minute. It also means there are around 6,900 new posts every hour and 165,600 a day – we’d be surprised if you can find somewhere that hasn’t been reviewed amongst those yet.
Japanese travelers post the most reviews
On average, Japanese tourists post more reviews than any other nation, with an average of nine reviews per reviewer in 2015.
Businesses can easily lose a lot of money through the site
Hotels, restaurants and other small businesses are often at risk of losing a significant amount of business if they receive negative reviews, or if TripAdvisor red-flags them for ‘suspicious activity’. But despite this, their only option is to take the website to court, which they often don’t have the financial resources for.
The top 10% of global travel spend comes from TripAdvisor
According to a report into the economic contribution of TripAdvisor, the website generated 22 million tourism trips and 352 million tourism nights over the course of 2014, as well as $64 billion (£48 billion) in incremental travel expenditures. TripAdvisor claims none of these would have occurred if it were not for the website's content.
In the US alone, TripAdvisor influences billions in travel spend
The same report also showed that TripAdvisor influenced $85.7 billion (£65 billion) in travel spending in 2014 and is directly responsible for generating $20.5 billion (£15.5 billion) in travel spending.
Hotels can ‘wipe the slate clean’ when they renovate
In September 2013, TripAdvisor announced it would be implementing a new policy to allow hoteliers to ‘wipe the slate clean’ by removing old reviews when they update or renovate their property.
Its new, eco-friendly, office looks like this
The firm recently relocated its global headquarters to this eco-friendly building in Needham, designed by Baker Design Group, to accommodate 2,500 employees. It’s certainly a step-up from the tiny office above a pizza shop.
And has this amazing kitchen – full of free food for staff
Sticking with the international theme, there is a selection of dozens of different cuisines for employees to snack on during their lunch breaks. This includes a salad bar that is 25-feet long. Oh – and it also has a free fro-yo machine, with up to eight different toppings. So it’s basically food heaven.
Employees get their own personal Fitbit
To counteract all of the indulgent free food (which is also available at various walls around the office by the way), employees are each given their own TripAdvisor branded Fitbit to encourage them to be active. They also have access to the state-of-the-art gym (pictured above) and free fitness classes.
And employees are clearly very grateful for it
Reviews left by former employees have given the company an overall rating of four stars (3.9 if we’re being pedantic), with work/life balance, salary/benefits, management and culture all being given four stars. The only element of the job to receive a slightly lower rating was security with three stars. We’re sure the gym and kitchen soon balance that out though!
Overall, it’s been a huge success
Founder and CEO Stephen Kaufer now enjoys a hefty $39 million (£29.5 million) annual salary, meaning he is one of the highest-paid CEOs in the tech industry – just behind LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner ($49/£37 million), Zynga’s Don Mattrick ($58/£44 million) and Orcale’s Larry Ellison ($78.4/£59 million).
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