I can hear the cheers already from every hotelier who has ever received a poor review -

Last week when Expedia announced that it was spinning off TripAdvisor there was a lot of speculation as to what it meant for hoteliers. At the same time many investors were wondering how owning a piece of the travel industry's 800 pound gorilla would improve the performance of their portfolio.

According to the Wall Street Journal investing in TripAdvisor isn't the "no brainer" travel insiders might think. The WSJ reports that Google with its new "Places" search product has been aiming squarely at TripAdvisor." Like TripAdvisor, "Places" provides hotel reviews as well as access to sites where people can book a hotel room. (see: "Is Your Hotel Ready For Google Places" click to read  )

According to Comscore which measures web traffic to sites, "since November, TripAdvior's page views have fallen from the year-earlier number." And Google recently received approval from anti-trust authorities to purchase travel search firm ITA Software.

This led the WSJ to speculate, "[with Google having its own travel search] there may be little need to click through to other travel search sites like TripAdvisor.

What does this all mean?

• It is highly unlikely TripAdvisor will ever disappear.
• Hoteliers can expect heated competition between Google and TripAdvisor creating significantly more awareness of travel review sites, postings and visits.
• There really will be nowhere for hoteliers to hide.
• If you are considering investing in the new TripAdvisor spinoff – caveat emptor.

For the record – Expedia paid $219 million for TripAdvisor in 2004. One Wall Street analyst estimated TripAdvisor's current valuation at $2.4 billion.

Madigan Pratt is Managing Director of Madigan Pratt & Associates, Inc., an innovative CRM company dedicated to acquiring and retaining profitable customers for luxury hotels. Prior to founding MP&A in New York two decades ago he held senior management positions overseeing marketing communications for several Fortune 500 companies.

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