WEST CHESTER, PA, April 10, 2012 (Press-News.org) For those who love to travel, the Internet is an increasingly prominent tool. Travelers use the Web, including social networks, to book their hotels and even to buy plane tickets. What is more, many travelers also use the Web to share their thoughts on different travel accommodations, whether they are offering an airline recommendation or a full review of a particular hotel. But as travelers have increasingly embraced the Web, the travel industry has found itself facing an urgent need for online reputation services. In fact, more and more hotels are seeking protection against negative reviews and online defamation; 4Hoteliers, a leading industry publication, recently offered a full crash-course in online reputation management. According to companies like Reputation Changer, hotels are ideal candidates for these Internet-based services.
Reputation Changer's Chief Executive Officer, Justin Singletary, says the hotel industry's increased use of reputation defense services is only natural--and that it is also very smart. "A hotel is uniquely susceptible to nasty online attacks that could ultimately sink its business," Singletary says. "That's because a traveler can post a scathing, one-star online review, which might be based on something completely outside the hotel's control, like noise from the street below the room. Negative reviews can even be planted by a rival hotel, as part of an aggressive smear campaign."
And not only do these negative reviews happen, but they can also prove very influential, Singletary says. "A one-star review, posted on a review site like Yelp, is almost surely going to be one of the first things to show up on a Google search," he notes. And that lone review can have a huge impact on public opinion, Singletary says. "If a one-star rating is what appears beside the hotel's name in an Internet search, then, for all intents and purposes, that hotel has become a one-star hotel in the minds of consumers. What companies like www.ReputationChanger.com does is help restore that hotel as the brand of choice among travelers."
Singletary offers a shocking story as evidence of the importance of a hotel's reputation. "We dealt with a four-star hotel that was slapped with a one-star review. The hotel's business slowed down so much that it had to drop down to one-star rates. It basically became a one-star hotel, solely on the back of an online review."
But reputation defense--and, where needed, reputation repair--is hardly outside the realm of possibility. The 4Hoteliers commentary notes that the process is two-pronged, and includes both reputation monitoring and management. Singletary says this is a helpful distinction. "Even for hotels that are not aware of any defamation or bad reviews, monitoring can be very helpful," he observes. "Then, should some unwanted content appear online, the hotel will know it in time to respond promptly and decisively." Singletary says that his own company provides 24/7 monitoring to its clients, and also prioritizes quick response to negative online listings.
The other side of the coin is reputation management. "This is what hotels with negative publicity or harmful reviews truly need," offers Singletary. A reputation management campaign would not seek to erase or refute those bad reviews, but rather would seek to suppress them. The online reputation defense company would inundate the search engines with positive content, seeking to push the bad reviews off the first page of the search results.
Singletary concludes by saying that the hotel industry's embrace of reputation management is something that other industries might learn from. "Hotels are hardly the only businesses that face bad reviews or unwanted publicity," he comments. Singletary says that some of his past clients have included Fortune 500 companies, home-based start-ups, and everything in between.
"Regardless of the industry, or exactly what the company does, a bad review from a site like Yelp can devastate," Singletary notes. "And even if bad reviews aren't a problem, there is always the chance that a competitor will engage in a smear campaign. That's why companies of all kinds must be prepared to defend their online reputation, something the hotel industry is learning."
ABOUT:
Founded in 2009 by a team of online marketing and sales professionals, Reputation Changer is one of the premier providers of online reputation management. The company works 24/7 to provide comprehensive reputation management strategies to its clients, which have included politicians, public figures, Fortune 500 companies, and more. Reputation Changer owns several media outlets, and is known for its innovation in positive SEO techniques, social media implementation, and more. The company is also unique for the custom, individualized process it takes for every client and every campaign.
Reputation Changer: Travel Industry Faces Dire Need for Reputation Services
As travelers across the world increasingly turn to the Internet for booking hotels and discussing travel arrangements, the travel industry itself faces a sudden and at times dire need for reputation management services.
2012-04-10
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Detecting breast cancer's fingerprint in a droplet of blood
2012-04-10
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. The earlier cancer is detected, the better the chance of successful treatment and long-term survival. However, early cancer diagnosis is still challenging as testing by mammography remains cumbersome, costly, and in many cases, cancer can only be detected at an advanced stage. A team based in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University's Faculty of Medicine has developed a new microfluidics-based microarray that could one day radically change how and when cancer is diagnosed. Their ...
New index identifies periods when global stock markets might decline
2012-04-10
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have found a way to measure the likelihood of global stock market losses by identifying periods in which shocks may be more likely to spread across many national markets.
This "fragility index" identifies periods in which international equity markets are more susceptible to widespread pull-backs by identifying common risk exposures. The index identifies when systemic risk exposure is high in markets across multiple countries, and shows an increasing probability of a global stock market draw-down.
For example, the likelihood of a global ...
African Americans more likely to blog than whites and Latinos
2012-04-10
The blogging community is more racially diverse than one might think. Internet-connected African Americans are more likely to blog than their white and Hispanic counterparts, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.
While African Americans as a whole are less likely to afford laptops and personal computers, Internet-savvy blacks, on average, blog one and a half times to nearly twice as much as whites, while Hispanics blog at the same rate as whites, according to a study published in the March online issue of the journal, Information, Communication ...
Clinical news alert from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
2012-04-10
Airport security screening has increased substantially during the past decade, while joint replacement procedures also continue to rise. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), in 2009, nearly 300,000 total hip replacements (THR) were performed in the United States. A new study, "Detection of Total Hip Prostheses at Airport Security Checkpoints: How Has Heightened Security Affected Patients," appearing in the April 4, 2012 issue of the JBJS, provides an analysis of current security measures on patients who have had a THR.
A consecutive ...
Recovery from propofol anesthesia may be sped by use of common stimulant
2012-04-10
The ability of the commonly used stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) to speed recovery from general anesthesia appears to apply both to the inhaled gas isoflurane, as previously reported, and to the intravenous drug propofol. Members of the same Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team that reported the isoflurane study are publishing similar results for propofol in the May issue of Anesthesiology, and their paper has been issued online.
"Propofol is the most widely used intravenous general anesthetic, and there is currently no way to reverse its effects," ...
Notre Dame researchers using novel method to combat malaria drug resistance
2012-04-10
Researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health developed a "gene chip" to contribute to the identification of malaria drug resistance, an effort that will allow for real-time response in modified treatment strategies for this devastating disease.
The new discovery is described in a paper appearing in the latest early online edition of the journal Science. The team of researchers includes Notre Dame's Michael Ferdig, associate professor of biological sciences and doctoral student Becky Miller along with John Tan, managing director of the ...
History of abandoned urban sites found stored in soil
2012-04-10
April 5, 2012 - Old houses and vacant lots may not look like much to the naked eye, but to some, the site is better than gold. Excavations over the years can create a challenge to study what's left behind and often appears as if dirt and debris ended up mixed in a blender then pressed by a giant trash compactor.
However, in Detroit, one scientist and geologist is finding some of the city's abandoned lots provide a surprising "natural laboratory" for studying certain processes involved in soil formation; particularly the weathering of rocky and mineral objects within ...
New research reveals food ingredients most prone to fraudulent economically motivated adulteration
2012-04-10
Rockville, Md., April 5, 2012 — In new research published in the April Journal of Food Science, analyses of the first known public database compiling reports on food fraud and economically motivated adulteration in food highlight the most fraud-prone ingredients in the food supply; analytical detection methods; and the type of fraud reported. Based on a review of records from scholarly journals, the top seven adulterated ingredients in the database are olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee, and apple juice.
The database was created by the U.S. Pharmacopeial ...
Copper chains: Study reveals Earth's deep-seated hold on copper
2012-04-10
Earth is clingy when it comes to copper. A new Rice University study this week in the journal Science finds that nature conspires at scales both large and small -- from the realms of tectonic plates down to molecular bonds -- to keep most of Earth's copper buried dozens of miles below ground.
"Everything throughout history shows us that Earth does not want to give up its copper to the continental crust," said Rice geochemist Cin-Ty Lee, the lead author of the study. "Both the building blocks for continents and the continental crust itself, dating back as much as 3 billion ...
Big advance against cystic fibrosis
2012-04-10
Harvard stem cell researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have taken a critical step in making possible the discovery in the relatively near future of a drug to control cystic fibrosis (CF), a fatal lung disease that claims about 500 lives each year, with 1,000 new cases diagnosed annually.
Beginning with the skin cells of patients with CF, Jayaraj Rajagopal, MD, and colleagues first created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and then used those cells to create human disease-specific functioning lung epithelium, the tissue that lines the airways and is ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Einstein Probe releases its Science White Paper
Music-based therapy may improve depressive symptoms in people with dementia
No evidence that substituting NHS doctors with physician associates is necessarily safe
At-home brain speed tests bridge cognitive data gaps
CRF appoints Josep Rodés-Cabau, M.D., Ph.D., as editor-in-chief of structural heart: the journal of the heart team
Violent crime is indeed a root cause of migration, according to new study
Customized smartphone app shows promise in preventing further cognitive decline among older adults diagnosed with mild impairment
Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, UM study finds
School of Public Health researchers receive National Academies grant to assess environmental conditions in two Houston neighborhoods
Three Speculum articles recognized with prizes
ACM A.M. Turing Award honors two researchers who led the development of cornerstone AI technology
Incarcerated people are disproportionately impacted by climate change, CU doctors say
ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named
Insomnia, lack of sleep linked to high blood pressure in teens
Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults
Levels of select vitamins & minerals in pregnancy may be linked to lower midlife BP risk
Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health
Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality
20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000
Bacterial ‘jumping genes’ can target and control chromosome ends
Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese
Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests
Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies
Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies
A rapid decline in US butterfly populations
Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia
Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales
Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change
Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights
Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease
[Press-News.org] Reputation Changer: Travel Industry Faces Dire Need for Reputation ServicesAs travelers across the world increasingly turn to the Internet for booking hotels and discussing travel arrangements, the travel industry itself faces a sudden and at times dire need for reputation management services.