Social media is supplanting search as the go-to source for discovering content, according results of a survey of active online users conducted by Publicis’ Mediavest | Spark unit and BuzzFeed. The study, which was conducted by Forrester Consulting, surveyed 1,500 18- to 55-year-olds, and found social media is replacing search as the dominant means they use to find media content. A majority of the respondents identified social media as their “most preferred source” for reading, viewing or listening to content about topics they care about. Source: Social Supplants Search For Content Discovery, Millennials Twice As Likely To Get News That Way 05/11/2016

 Marhat POV

WHY Search is failing

f you every wondered why SEO is not bring the returns it did just a while ago, then you will understand that social media is apart of the answer. More users are going to social sites to find what they are looking for and search is falling as users discover other venues to search on. That is not the only reason why search engines are failing travel.

OTAS Dominate search

The Online Travel Agents have, to a very large extent, usurped search to become a dominate resource for travel shoppers. Its was clear some time ago that Google was heading to loose out in travel search to the OTAs – see https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1510172072192877942

Travel marketing is changing as OTAs move to dominate hotel and tourism bookings and hoteliers learn to love and hate them. They can’t do without them and they cry foul at the paying higher and higher commission to gt results.

Direct Booking Options With Digital Media

Hotels cant get on search results as they did before their share of direct bookings is under attack. But new option are opening, not only in social, but in may other ways. Google has introduced several “more hotel friendly” initiatives on mobile and now with Hotel Ads it is in direct competition with OTAs. Hotel Ads allows hotel to pay google a commission and get booking direct from place listing on top real-estate on Google.  See more about digital media and technology for hotel and tourism on the new book series – Marketing Hotels and Tourism Online. The first book #Website is published now   – Be sure to get the book and bonuses at http://bonus.marketinghotelstourismonline.com

#1 Amazon Bestseller Website is first in the series on hotel and tourism marketing