TripAdvisor already has more than 100 million reviews on its sites, but it needs even more in order to continue competing against rivals like Yelp and Foursquare. Review Express, a service the travel Web site launched today, is meant to help TripAdvisor grow its roster of reviews by making it easy for venues to request them from customers.
Review Express allows businesses to send bulk emails to guests asking them to write reviews, which are then published on TripAdvisor. The incentive for businesses to use Review Express is that the more reviews a venue has on TripAdvisor, the more credence it has in the eyes of potential customers. In its press release, TripAdvisor also cited a 2012 study by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration showing consumers are now reading more reviews before deciding on a hotel and that if a hotel increases its review scores by 1 point on a 5-point scale, it can up its price by 11.2 percent without losing market share.
Other features TripAdvisor has recently launched to bulk up its reviews include EasyToBook.com, which allows users to share travel reviews with friends, and the Rave Review widget, which allows site owners to display photos with positive reviews.
Review Express’s features include customizable emails, bulk uploads of up to 1,000 email addresses at a time, send request processing within 24 hours, and the ability to send messages in 21 languages.