Boo.com to screen user reviews

Friday, 24 May, 2007 0

Hotel website boo.com is bypassing concerns over the trustworthiness of website reviews by only posting comments from people who are prepared to give information about themselves.

The newly launched hotel booking service gives each reviewer their own page to post their previous travel experiences, property reviews and photos of themselves.

Boo.com chief marketing officer Niamh Ni Mhir said: “There is the focus on the wisdom of the crowd but what’s more important is to trust people like you rather than the public in general.”

The site enables consumers to select other like-minded people on the site as trustees and bookmark them. The bookmark facility then lists property reviews from trustees higher than other reviews.

Ni Mhir said: “Everybody seems happy to have their page on myspace or bebo and people like to think they are experts on where they have travelled. We are trying to build up trust ratings like Amazon or e-bay and other users rate the usefulness of the reviews to them.”

Boo.com, which went live less than a month ago, also plans to build tours, activities and restaurant content on the site.

Ni Mhir said: “Initially it will be things to do that customers recommend and there will be basic listings and people can click out from them if they want that. The site will offer information, research and planning and then all the tools to decide what they want to book.”

The company has already revealed plans to add a flight research and booking service provided by Travelfusion in the next few weeks.

by Linda Fox

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