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Niche sites stimulating online travel
New online travel sites are chipping away at some of the expertise that drives people to online travel agencies (OTAs), according to eMarketeer.
These sites are themselves already pressured by travel supplier sites run by airlines and hotels.
“Recent offerings from Farecast and FareCompare help consumers determine the best time to book airline tickets. Travel social networking sites like Gusto.com let visitors share itineraries and trip information,” the site says.
Capitalizing on the online video rage, travelervideos.com lets travelers upload vacation photos and videos and write their own travel blogs — all of which can be shared with family, friends and other travelers.
All this activity comes as research from comScore shows that travel supplier Web sites are steadily taking share away from OTAs, due to the success of their lowest-price guarantees.
Specialized Web sites and internet tools are beginning to catch on with online travelers as online travel resources, according to Forrester Research.
eMarketeer also predicts that by 2010, over 157 million US viewers will be watching internet video. The site says:
“No matter how you measure it, more people are watching more online video more frequently than ever before. And yet rapidly increasing audience size and interest have not translated into a large advertising market. The question is: Will it ever?”
The “new reality” includes viewers with DVRs skipping ads. Viewers in general are taking more control of their media consumption.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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