trivago.co.uk

Hi everyone,

OK, I know, most of you have completely forgotten me, or, never even knew me... and there's a very good reason for that... I've been completely bluffed by another website! OK, I know... that's a bit of a bad reason for not having been around for what seems like ages... but 24 hours in a day is just not long enough to do all I'd like to! hope you'll let me off?....

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For those who don't already know this time consuming but money making site, I'm talking about trivago.

I'm going to tell you about how my experience there is going, and what I can do there...

A very important detail is that trivago is still very young, so there is a lot to do... and therefore a bit of money to gain to develop it... how long for? Impossible to know... but then nothing is eternal.. we'll see!

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So here goes with my experience anyway...

First of all, if you want to help a friend out by making him/her gain a third of whatever you/yourself will eventually earn, without loosing out on a single penny yourself, you can register via their/my link lol ;-) (let me know in my private guestbook, I'd be very thankful!/helpful!) Same will go for you, if you find a worthy friend or two too.

So to register is the easy part... the normal name and address bit to fill in.

You then get your ordinary e-mail to confirm you did really fill in that form.

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So now you are a member of trivago.com! Well done you! I say that because from my small experience one of two things will happen from here on... either

1. Like me, you are going to seriously enjoy this.... or

2. Not at all...

The different reasons for both options, I'm going to try to explain to you, if you take the time to read them....

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If, like me, you have many old photos hanging about of your holidays, or just places you past by in... trivago offers a very interesting way to gain a few pounds... you just find the town where your photos correspond to, and download them into the corresponding attraction/hotel/camping/lac side/town church etc....

First thing I did personally, as many do, was to take a holiday review originally written for Ciao, and posted it on trivago...

The second level is reachable within one review... so you soon feel like reaching level 3!

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Unlike Ciao, where you get points, here, you get shares! Shares of what? you may ask, well it's a little complicated, but I'm going to try to explain this :

Trivago sells holidays too. That means that you can also look and compare prices for your next holidays, or eventually book them here. Half of the money gained by trivago for doing so, is shared out amongst the members who write for, give photos to, and help to build the trivago site. What you gain depends on how much you contribute to the site, but also, as to how much the other members participate. All the information's on your gains are clearly indicated in your statistics.

Every two months, your "proportionate gain" is transferred onto your account, that sum then stays fix. Every two months your trivago account is transferred onto your Paypal account. So that's the money bit sorted!

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So what do I get up to on trivago? I guess that's the whole purpose of this review! lol!

So, as I said, to get through the first level, I just added photos, and a few reviews. Also I added a few Internet links towards the beautiful area I live in, and invited a few friends via my link. To get through each level, you need to be "promoted" by 5 other members who are two levels ahead of you. This generally takes a few hours. And of course you need a minimum of shares... 250 to get your second purple lozenge.

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At level 2, I discovered "external reviews". These consist in finding someone else's point of view (on a hotel or an attraction, ie. a restaurant or a museum) and turning it into your own words, whilst attaching the link to the original review you've taken it from. Now, I do admit, I've not been a fan of these from the start. Even worse, a person I reviewed from ciao (France) did not appreciate the fact that the link to her review could make her have more reads on Ciao.... since, I take my external reviews from tourist guides, or books. Trivago does list out the major sources for these. I can also now add attractions to the site, those are basically anything worth seeing really, it's a rather vast option. I've added restaurants, zoos, museums, rivers, lakes etc...

A few photo's, reviews, attractions, links and externals later, I reached the 5000 parts necessary to be promoted, (by 5 other members two levels higher) to level 3... represented by three purple lozenges!

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So once at level 3, I can now contribute to the rather important task of adding hotels that aren't already on trivago, or completing mini-hotels, that are there, but just incomplete. To do so, I just need an Internet connection that's not too slow so that I can open a few pages on the wanted hotel (to get as much as possible information) to fill in the trivago form. I can also participate to the database maintenance at level 3. That means that I can add non-existing (on this site,lol!) towns, regions, or country's to trivago! Also, I can ask for the modification of a wrongly spelt town, or ask for a town to be removed if it's in there twice! I can also promote new members of level 1 to level 2!;-)

And here, it becomes essential that I talk about the ratings on trivago.

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Adding hotels, links, external reviews or your own reviews are all evaluated by a percentage according to the action you undertake... here are some very concrete examples...

You write a review, on the form you fill in to do so, you must rate certain aspects( i.e. accessibility, appearance or the architecture etc...) Your review must talk about these aspects, or else you mustn't evaluate them... If your review corresponds with your ratings, and all the essential information is there, those who rate you (minimum level 4) do so between 10%-100%. A review is worth 250 shares. So depending on the evaluations, you can get UP TO 250 shares.

For the other actions it's slightly different. For example, for links, externals and adding hotels some are worth more than others from the start. When you fill in the form, it'll tell you the maximum you can gain for that source. Don't ask me how they work out the importance of each place!!!

So don't be upset when your brilliantly researched hotel you added only gives you 70% when it's activated ... It's just the way it works. I promise, you'll get used to it!

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Adding a hotel gives you up to 600 shares, an external 300 shares, adding an attraction 200 shares, photos 50 shares and database maintenance 50 shares.

I'd warned you it was complicated...

So where was I... yes, level 3! So now things get serious, and to achieve level 4 I needed ;

1. 25,000 shares
2. 20 external reviews
3. 20 Internet links
4. 15 hotels added, or completed,
5. 10 attraction added,
6. 5 reviews written, and
7. Be promoted (when you have all that) by 5 members who are 2 levels ahead of you!!!

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Ok, so I'm level four, which is a grey lozenge. So now I can finally rate other peoples reviews... yesssss... and I even get 5 shares per review read for doing so. I can also promote other members of a level 1 and 2. Other than that, what I need now is lots of hard work to get to level 5!! (two grey lozenges!) this is what I need ;

1. 100,000 shares
2. 100 of those nasty external reviews! lol (some people love these by the way, I'm just a moany one!)
3. 50 hotels completed
4. 50 Internet links
5. 100 reviews rated.

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So that's where I'm at, personally, I'm hoping to obtain my level 5 before the summer holidays!! where I'll be able to ;

1. Approve other members photos, Internet links and external reviews.
2. Promote other members from level 2-3.
3. Have access to the "Globe trotter" forum!
4. And all that I could do in the lower levels of course!

To cut a long story short, once in level 6, you can approve added hotels and attractions added by other members, and have access to the "discoverer" forum! For that, I'll eventually need :

1.250,000 shares.
2.150 external boring thingies,
3. 100 Internet links,
4. 100 hotels added (or completed)
5. 150 externals written by other (ahh... that'll be nice! lol!) approved,
6. 150 other members hotels approved,
7. 150 hotel photos approved,
8. 200 members reviews rated (that's what I enjoy the most, reading about all these great holidays!!)

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OK, so if you are curious enough to know just how many functions you can actually gain by participating to this "out of the ordinary" travel (or not particularly) Internet site, you'll just have to join!

OK, why "not particularly"?

Because where you live is elsewhere for someone else! You don't have to be a traveller to participate... In your town, however small, there must an attraction to add to trivago! A church, a restaurant, a fitness club.. a stadium... the possibilities are vast.

OK, so that's what I do there.

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In brief this is what I like there ;

When you arrive on the site you are greeted by your mentor, who is there to help you out whenever you have a problem, or difficulty to get on.
You can add little flags to your personal page, according to which languages you speak or understand. This gives you access to read opinions in those chosen languages, but also to write in another language. I do like this multicultural aspect.
Sharing those hundreds of photos I have, is just going to take me years!!!!
The variety of options makes that you can't really get bored.
There are often "special actions" that are limited in time but propose "bonus" parts. These are often really interesting.
I've discovered loads of really interesting places I didn't know, and lots are on my "list" of places to visit.
The gains seem very interesting. I've gained about 35 pounds a month, which I can't wait to receive! I haven't yet seen another internet site where I can gain more, and enjoy ;-)
I also enjoy those little messages I receive in my guest book, as I do in Ciao ;-)

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So what don't I like there? ;

Well, as you guessed further up, I don't like external reviews much!
I admit that getting grips of how I should do what at the beginning was rather teadious. I think that is where those who abandoned did so.
It's very addictive, like Ciao I guess!
I've invited a few friends on trivago, I'd say half of them are really into it, and the other half don't participate at all.
The delay before actually being paid is long, too long, I reckon.

So what else can I say? If you have any questions, pop me a message you know where, and if you feel like generously passing through my link to subscribe, I'd be very grateful... half of you will love this site!!!

Hope to see you there soon ....
I'm loving it!

۩ Squidge