TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer talks Google, bad hotels, and speed
Photo Credit: Flickr
Skift Take
TripAdvisor's Kaufer can be testy, but he's apparently happiest when testing a new product, and following the company's mantra, "speed wins." Discount restaurant vouchers via mobile devices are somewhere on TripAdvisor's busy agenda.
On a nondescript businesses estate in a Boston suburb, the fortunes of hoteliers and restaurateurs worldwide are won and lost. This is the modest headquarters of TripAdvisor, the travel reviews website that in little more than a decade has gathered an unmatched library of more than a hundred million reviews from ordinary people online and in doing so has revolutionised the hospitality and tourism industries.
Clever hotels and restaurants now pay close attention to their reputation on TripAdvisor. With more than 200 million visitors a month planning trips based on its recommendations, a run of good or bad reviews can mean make or break, and there are consistent grumbles that the website is growing too powerful.
For Steve Kaufer, the software engineer who founded TripAdvisor in 2000 and remains in charge today, complaints from disgruntled business owners are par for the course. In the next few years he aims to massively increase the proportion of travellers who plan their trip on h
