In a suite of announcements today - including how real time search will look in results - the new photo search product Google Goggles has plenty to get the traveller excited. The new product has a limited release on Android-powered mobiles at present but is essentially a photo recognition system which allows users to send a snap from their phones to Google and receive information back about it. Sounds simple - and it is.... Read More

Solutionz Media, a new venture by travel industry veterans Chicke Fitzgerald and Tiffany Topcik, partnered with GuestCentric Systems to go after business from independent hotels looking to enter into and/or monetize their social media efforts. Solutionz Media, a unit of the Solutionz Group, will do much of the consulting and strategizing for independent hotels as they implement GuestCentric Systems' Customer Engagement Platform, which was an entry in PhoCusWright's recent Travel Innovation Summit in Orlando. The platform, available in Software as a Service mode for a monthly flat fee, contains marketing and distribution components, including social media monitoring and promotions.... Read More

Most popular travel websites in the UK for the week ending December 5 2009. Data includes Top Ten travel search terms and the Top Ten Agency, Airline and Destination/Accommodation sites.... Read More

Get an External Opinion: You, your designer, and your staff are too close to your website. You can’t see how the latest tweaks are meshing with the original structure, and you’ll look past minor niggles that could be causing real problems.... Read More

Just days after Travellerspoint revealed its simplistic, on-demand email city and country guides, social and travel publishing giant Time Out unveils its own take on the on-the-go guides. The publisher's popular city guides are in the process of being formatted for eReaders, Blackberry, PDA and web and will available for download from its own store and other online retailers this month. Time Out says the eBooks will be fully interactive and include the usual mapping functions and ability to add bookmarks and make notes against the content.... Read More

It’s Not a Billboard: This one is easy: unless you make more off those advertisements than you do by selling your products, get rid of them.... Read More

What you missed on Tnooz this week, Sunday 29 November to Saturday 5 December 2009. Read on to see the most commented articles, every other article this week, and the most commented articles of all time...... Read More

Add Value Not Noise: Now, we said less is more but let’s be realistic. You need a good base of content to attract traffic and to help convince your customer you are the expert.... Read More

No sooner had world football governing body FIFA announced the draw today for the finals in South Africa in June 2010, travel websites around the globe were quick to offer fans a variety deals to watch their favourite team. The four-week extravaganza is probably one of the biggest attractions in world sport - some say more popular than the Olympics - and an obvious tournament for travel firms to focus on with bundle deals, flights and hotels for the ten venues in the RSA. With tickets going on sale tomorrow (Saturday 5 December), travel companies will be jostling for position as the best providers of packages and deals.... Read More

At this moment, around 1:10 p.m. EST on Dec. 4, 2009, The New York Times article, Organizing the Chaos of Online Travel Tips, by Riva Richmond, is the #1 most e-mailed story on the newspaper's website. The article, published a couple of days ago, is an overview of the array of travel-planning websites and tools at your disposal. I take heart in the article's popularity despite the fact that perhaps readers of this type of piece might be the most prone to e-mailing it along to friends and cohorts. Ahem, fellow travelers?... Read More

Mobile apps appear to be de rigeur for any travel guide company looking to peddle its content to users when on a trip, but TravellersPoint has gone back to basics with a simple but effective email system. The Norway and Australia-based community company has developed a system where anyone can email the site with a country or city name in the subject field and almost instantaneously receive reams of travel content in an email or PDF. The founders claim it is one of a kind in the travel space as most other online content publishers require the guide to be organised on the website or a fee is charged to the customer.... Read More

Lufthansa plans to launch Amadeus Affinity Shopper on the airline's Germany and U.K. websites next week, and its introduction on Lufthansa's U.S. website could take place as soon as in two weeks, an official says. Marcus Casey, who heads up Lufthansa's global websites, says the new Amadeus shopping engine, which queries users about their interests and price and doesn't begin with dates and destinations, will have a direct link on the airline's home pages. Affinity Shopper, which will have new Lufthansa branding -- to be announced next week -- on the airline's websites, will be an add-on to the existing Amadeus-provided shopping and pricing engine, and thus won't replace it.... Read More

The apparent disconnect between what the CFOs say about how appalling the economy is for customers and companies alongside what investors think is never clearer than when checking share performance for 2009. And if the performance of some travel and technology firms is anything to go it is hardly surprising that the likes of Kayak, Amadeus and Travelport - to name just three - are being mentioned as likely candidates for an IPO in 2010. Take the three big publicly listed online travel agencies in the US.... Read More

Lose the Widgets: Simplicity is what makes good websites close sales. Too many websites decide that because they have that sidebar, they can fill it up.... Read More

In some ways, Spirit Airlines is very smart. It released a short video, a takeoff on the Tiger Woods domestic incident/fender bender, showing a tiger -- the furry kind -- crashing an SUV into a fire hydrant, and the airline then offers Spirit Airlines fares for $9 each way, and a "limited time only" $35 off coupon. I can't see much tie-in between the ad's crash portrayal and a pitch for low airfares or discount coupons. But, Spirit accomplished its ends and has no worries.... Read More