Comments on: SimonSeeks and the meta-metasearching for flights – can it make money?

By: jeremy head

jeremy head — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:43:53 +0000

Months ago I know… but only just spotted this
@Nick – What I meant by ‘they don’t get paid’ was exactly that. No money is paid to a user for just submitting a guide…. that was the question being asked. As you say in your comment that doesn’t mean users don’t earn revenue from their guides.

By: Kevin May

Kevin May — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:50:31 +0000

I agree andy.

But it may turn out to be a reasonably decent buyers’ guide compared to the reams of trash others out there (of which I’ve unfortunately seen hundreds).

You’ll have seen the question marks throughout the piece and the headline, thus the scepticism on might part.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:11:04 +0000

“its latest initiative is to aggregate and review flight meta search providers”, “has split the service into a number of areas.”, “during the launch phase” and “a stroke of genius”

It’s a buyer’s guide containing affiliate links (and a widget). Service? Launch phase? Aggregate? Stroke of genius? It’s a BUYER’S GUIDE, Kevin. You write like you’ve never seen one before.

By: james dunford wood

james dunford wood — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:04:44 +0000

Simonseeks, I believe, have ‘seeded’ their guides with some commissioned guides, while the bulk are incentivised out of ad revenue. Will it make money? My guess is that it will eventually, because they have the resources and deep pockets to stay the course until they get the kind of traffic and mainstream recognition to give them critical mass. This will come much more from ad revenue and other revenue streams as yet untapped, rather than affiliate booking income from metasearch engines etc. Like other travel guide sites, Simonseeks attracts users at the planning stage, not the booking stage. The challenge is to persuade advertisers of the value they bring to the table. But if they become the first (or one of the first!) ports of call for users trying to decide where to go next, then the value will surely follow.

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:35:26 +0000

Cheers for the quick response Nick.

By: Nick Trend

Nick Trend — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:47:07 +0000

I’m not sure what Jeremy is getting at here. Simonseeks writers earn money for their contributions from a share in the advertising and commission revenue (http://www.simonseeks.com/blog/update-writers-payments). The site has only been live for four months, and the first payments will be announced this month. The travel writing prizes are an added – and I’m sure welcome – incentive for contributors.

Nick Trend, Editorial Director, simonseeks.com

By: Jeremy Head

Jeremy Head — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:05:14 +0000

They don’t get paid. Simon has started running competitions – rewarding the ‘best’ features though.
http://www.simonseeks.com/blog/new-incentives-write-simonseeks-%C2%A320000-travel-writing-prizes

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:49:23 +0000

Do they pay users for the guides they submit?

I was surprised to see one of the staff mentioning that they helped the user improve the quality of their writing here: http://www.simonseeks.com/travel-guides/luxury-and-lunar-landscapes-lanzarote__117500 which was surprising, but even more surprising was that he/she publicly criticizing the guide by pointing out mistakes and areas that the user could have gone into more detail.

If the users submit the guides free then this is a bit shocking, but if they get paid then its not so bad, although im still surprised that it was done publicly.

On another note, check out the following page (by entering “Gold Coast”) in the search box: http://www.simonseeks.com/search?keys=gold%20coast

Weird, other terms work, but this one returns the error page…