TRIVAGO 101 - An introduction to the European travel site

'www.freeprovider.co.uk/myhomepage/index.html'


INTRODUCTION

This article is an introduction to the travel information site, Trivago. It was started in Germany a couple of years ago and has recently established a British presence. French and Spanish sites are also in preparation. It is not my intention to repeat the very comprehensive details contained in the site’s help pages and FAQ. However, as a new or prospective member these pages can be very confusing to navigate and understand in the early days. I will be concentrating on what you should and should not expect if you decide to become involved. As you are also likely to be an experienced member of CIAO or dooyoo (because of your presence in this forum) it is advisable to understand the similarities and, more importantly, the differences between them and Trivago.

I am reasonably well placed to write this introduction as in my short period of membership I have progressed beyond the introductory levels, have experienced most of the activities of the site, have become involved with the community and am amongst the highest points scorers of UK residents.

WHAT IS TRIVAGO?

The organisation’s Mission Statement declares its aim to develop “into the premier European online-service for travellers seeking advice about their travel destinations. We want to help the people that use trivago to make better informed decisions about their travels and consequently to have better travel experiences. We will achieve this goal by providing an integrated platform for travellers throughout Europe to share their experiences on hotels and travel destinations. We will support this … by ensuring a high quality of content and continuously adding external travel-related information. With booking functionalities … users will find trivago to be the premier online-address for their travel needs.”

In practical terms, the Trivago site is more than a series of user reviews. Certainly such reviews are required, and indeed posting your own reviews is one of the easier ways to become acquainted with the site. There is no bar to the cross posting of previously written reviews from other sites, indeed in the early days it is encouraged. However as your membership proceeds and progresses these reviews do take a subsidiary importance.

THE SITE

The basic layout of the site divides the world up into countries and these countries into their constituent regions.

Within each region are listed “destinations” – cities, towns and villages. Each destination then lists its complement of hotels and attractions (museums, restaurants, theme parks etc)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Beyond the User Review, the main functions required of members are as follows:

Add photograph: these are your own pictures (up to five) which illustrate an attraction or a hotel. You don’t need to have written a review to do this.
Add External link: a short factual paragraph and web link to a site of information about a destination
Add Attraction: A short factual article, contact details, opening hours, tickets etc for an attraction not yet entered in the database
Add hotel: Add or complete the details of a hotel not yet in the database. This requires the completion of a detailed two page “check box” form following your research of the hotel on the internet
Add External Review: Paraphrase an already published (internet or offline) review of a hotel or attraction. (NOTE these items are very different from your own user reviews)

Other activities will become apparent as you proceed.

SO WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

Each Trivago member holds a certain level. Superficially this may resemble to CIAO community points. However, membership levels have to be earned and there are detailed requirements before promotion to the next level can take place. Promotions do not happen automatically be need confirmation by five other members. With each promotion extra responsibilities are added.

The introductory levels (purple 1 – 3) are relatively straight forward and can be achieved with the points gained from adding reviews. Promotion to level 4 (grey 1) however does demand the completion of a number of the tasks listed above (full details are in the FAQ on the site). You will be allocated a Mentor (level 5 and above) to guide you through the early days.

You will notice very early in your career that you can add a review which will be rated by other members but you CANNOT rate other reviews in return. This is the first responsibility to be awarded by promotion and you do not gain that until level 4. Also you may well be disappointed that your crowned or diamond review is only awarded 83% here. The reason for this is that the rating scale is very precisely defined and is predicated on the needs of Trivago.

You will find that when you add one of the various items listed above, your submission has to be confirmed by a member with the necessary level (for instance: external link – level 5; add hotel – level 6). You will also be told that there is a certain number of points for a particular activity (600 for a new hotel). You will then be surprised that you have been given a rating of 70%. Again there are many reasons for this – partly due to trivago’s assessment of the importance of the hotel and partly a reflection of how accurately you completed your submission in the first place. The basic score for this item is 60%.

EARNING THE MONEY

Unlike other review sites, Trivago is totally transparent about the way it earns its money and rewards its membership. You must remember that you DO NOT earn money directly from a review you post or from the activities you complete. Unlike CIAO (or the others in this forum) your earning potential IS NOT related to how many ratings you get in the first two or three days you made a posting. Activities in Trivago are for the longer haul and the rewards are potentially much greater. Bonus shares do not expire.

Trivago makes its money by selling travel facilities. It returns one half of its profits to the membership. Your points are your shares in total membership pool. Over a given accounting period (currently two months) if you earn 1000 points and the membership as a whole earned 100,000 shares you have a 1% share of the profit pool.

So if the profit pool for the accounting period is £10,000 your share will be £10

One more point you should know. There is a minimum amount that will be paid out in any accounting period (currently given as the equivalent of 25 euros)

If you were to earn 12 euros, you won’t get paid in that quarter but you may “bank” it to your account to the next quarter. If you earn 13 euros or more the next quarter you will then get paid the combined total of 25 euros or more.

THE BOTTOM LINE

There is a lot more involved in this site than simply re-posting your existing CIAO or dooyoo reviews. As you become more involved trivago becomes a very satisfying activity and its site structure answers many of the criticisms inherent in other sites. It does however need a basic understanding of what is involved to make sense of what you are aiming to achieve.

The UK site is still developing. At the moment it remains very reliant on higher ranking members from the German site to confirm many items.
I am quite happy to give you any advice or help. Also if you wish to join, doing so through my invitation will help me within the trivago community.

You can contact me by email or by leaving a personal message.

Newfloridian
(AlanCrax@aol.com)

Sounds like trip advisor for people with egos.

How do you know what the profits are?

Declared on the statistics page of your profile.

Not one for me...

Not sure what Angus means...

Angus is absolutely correct - and I'm speaking as someone who was invloved but gave up due to pompous site founders

I don't know about the founders. All I know is that the help I have received is better than on any review site I have been on.

I found that it would have been better to tell the people rating my reviews my own thoughts and wait for them to write the review for me they were so critical.

I also think that it is quite restrictive. If you want to take part and earn something you need to be doing the boring stuff (in my opinion). I prefer to write reviews not spend hours adding hotels and links for no gain.