TripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. TripAdvisor was an early adopter of user-generated content. The website services are free to users, who provide most of the content, and the website is supported by an advertising business model.^[2]

Description[link]

TripAdvisor Media Group operates seventeen travel brands including TripAdvisor, Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, Holiday Lettings, Holiday Watchdog, Independent Traveler, OneTime, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, SniqueAway, Travel Library, TravelPod, VirtualTourist and Kuxun.cn. TripAdvisor operates websites internationally, including in the U.S., the U.K., France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, The Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Turkey, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Russia, Greece, Indonesia, and in China under the brand daodao.com and kuxun.cn. TripAdvisor is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.^[1]

History[link]

TripAdvisor was founded in February 2000 by Stephen Kaufer. Original financing was obtained from Flagship Ventures, the Bollard Group and private investors.^[3] The company was purchased by InterActive Corporation in 2004.^[4] IAC spun off its travel group of businesses under the Expedia, Inc. name in August 2005.^[5] In May 2007 TripAdvisor acquired Smarter Travel Media operator of SmarterTravel.com and BookingBuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com^[6] Also in May 2007, TripAdvisor acquired The Independent Traveler, Inc., publisher of Cruise Critic.com and IndependentTraveler.com^[7]

In February 2008, TripAdvisor acquired Holiday Watchdog, a user-generated travel site in the U.K.^[8] In July 2008, TripAdvisor acquired Virtualtourist, a travel website with reportedly over 1 million registered members and OneTime.com, a travel comparison site.^[9]

In July 2008 TripAdvisor acquired a majority stake in FlipKey.com, a vacation-rental website.^[10] In October 2009, TripAdvisor purchased Kuxun.cn, China’s second-largest consumer travel site and hotel and flight search engine.^[11]

In April 2009 TripAdvisor launched its official site in China daodao. Since then it has indexed more than 20,000 hotels and restaurants information and customer reviews, and made all kinds of top lists, becoming one of the biggest travel websites as of now.^[12]

In June 2010, TripAdvisor acquired the United Kingdom's largest independent vacation rental website, holidaylettings.co.uk. In September 2010, SmarterTravel, part of TripAdvisor Media Group, launched SniqueAway, the first members-only site where each travel deal is endorsed by the people.

In April 2011, it was announced that Expedia would split into two publicly traded companies by spinning off the TripAdvisor brand of travel sites. According to Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the move, "allows the two businesses to be pure plays and to operate with the proper amount of focus to grow respectively."^[13]

In December 2011, TripAdvisor was spun off from Expedia in a public offering.^[14]

TripAdvisor claims it is the world’s largest social travel network with over 100 million travellers having used it.^[15]

In April 2012 the company launched a connection to Facebook that lets users select reviews from people in their social graph.^[16]

Criticism and legal action[link]

TripAdvisor has been criticized for allowing unsubstantiated anonymous reviews to be posted about any hotel, B&B, inn or restaurant.^[17] In September 2010 a group of over 420 hospitality operators considered taking TripAdvisor to court over unfounded and unedited reviews posted by the website’s visitors.^[18] Around 30 hotels have been blacklisted by TripAdvisor for suspicious reviews, including a Cornwall hotel that bribed guests to leave positive reviews of the hotel.^[19]

TripAdvisor has stated that reviews are not posted to the website instantly, but are subject to a verification process which considers the IP address and email address of the author, and tries to detect any suspicious patterns or obscene or abusive language. ^[20] The website also allows the community of users to report suspicious content, which is then assessed by a team of quality assurance specialists. TripAdvisor also alerts the owner or manager of a TripAdvisor listed establishment whenever a negative review is posted about them on their listing.^[21]

In September 2011, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) launched a formal investigation into TripAdvisor after receiving complaints that its claims to provide trustworthy and honest reviews from travellers are false.^[22] As a result of the investigation, TripAdvisor was ordered to remove the slogan "reviews you can trust" from its UK web site.^[23] It changed its hotel review section slogan to 'reviews from our community.' TripAdvisor stated that the branding change had been planned for some time and that changes began in June 2011, prior to the ASA investigation.^[24][25] ASA commented that "it was concerned that consumers might be fooled by fraudulent posts since the entries could be made without any form of verification," but recognised that TripAdvisor used "advanced and highly effective fraud systems" in an attempt to identify and remove fake content.

According to a July 2011 PhoCusWright survey of 3,641 respondents, solicited at random through a pop-up invitation link on TripAdvisor.com and commissioned by the company, “98% of participants found that TripAdvisor’s hotel reviews … accurately reflect the experience.”^[26]

One hotelier, Deborah Sinclair, is sparring with TripAdvisor, due to TripAdvisor adding her hotel to a blacklist after suspecting a positive review was written by hotel staff.^[27][28]

Sponsorships[link]

Mega Global Air's Boeing 767 (8Q-MEG) whose livery is sponsored by TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor sponsors the livery of Mega Global Air's aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

	Companies portal
	Internet portal
	Society portal

References[link]

External links[link]

• TripAdvisor.com

Michael McIntyre
McIntyre at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Birth name	Michael Hazen James McIntyre
Born	(1976-02-21) 21 February 1976 (age 36) Merton, London, England
Medium	Stand-up, Television
Nationality	British
Years active	1999–present
Genres	Social satire Observational comedy
Influences	Woody Allen, Billy Connolly[1]
Spouse	Kitty McIntyre (m. 2003) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Kitty McIntyre to Michael McIntyre" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Michael_McIntyre)
Notable works and roles	Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow Live at the Apollo
Website	http://www.michaelmcintyre.co.uk/

Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is a British stand-up comedian. As well as his stand-up, he has performed on programmes such as Live at the Apollo and has his own programme, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow.

McIntyre has released two stand-up DVDs; Live and Laughing in 2008 featured material from his first nationwide tour, while Michael McIntyre: Hello Wembley was released in November 2009 following a set at Wembley Arena. The former was the fastest selling debut stand-up DVD ever, and Hello Wembley is the fastest selling stand-up DVD in UK chart history, selling over a million copies.^[2] In 2009 McIntyre performed live to half a million people and won Best Live Stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.

In 2010, McIntyre released his autobiography, Life and Laughing: My Story, and also became the youngest-ever host of the Royal Variety Performance.^[3] He started as a judge on the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent in April 2011.^[4] He is to embark on his second nationwide tour in 2012.^[5]

Early life[link]

McIntyre was born in Merton, southwest London, and raised in Hampstead.^[6] McIntyre's parents were both in show business: his Canadian father, Ray Cameron (19 April 1938 – 27 December 1993), né Thomas Cameron McIntyre, was a writer on The Kenny Everett Television Show, and his Hungarian mother, Kati, was a dancer. McIntyre has some Eastern European Jewish heritage on his mother's side.^[7][8] His parents divorced when he was seven; both his parents remarried and went on to have other children with their new spouses. Ray Cameron relocated to Los Angeles, where he died of a heart attack in 1993, aged 55.

Education[link]

McIntyre went to Arnold House Prep School and then attended Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood for three years before transferring to local state school Woodhouse College for financial reasons.^[9] McIntyre later attended Edinburgh University for one year before dropping out to pursue a career in script writing.^[10] He has said that he cannot remember whether it was biology or chemistry that he studied while there.^[6][10]

Career[link]

Television and stage[link]

McIntyre has appeared three times on BBC One's Live at the Apollo and also on the Royal Variety Performance, in 2006, 2008 and 2010. While performing on stage in Wolverhampton in 2008, as he was running back onto stage for his encore, McIntyre tripped, fell over and dislocated his shoulder. Many of the audience believed this to be part of his act and started to laugh; only after his manager came on stage to assist did they realise it was real.^[11]

McIntyre's routine on We Are Most Amused, staged at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 12 November 2008 in aid of The Prince's Trust was televised. This comedy gala celebrated the 60th birthday of Prince Charles, and was performed in the presence of the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall.^{[citation needed]}

Among McIntyre's many comedy panel show appearances are Chris Moyles' Quiz Night, Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 Cats, Have I Got News for You, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Would I Lie To You?, and The Apprentice: You're Fired!. On 13 February 2009, he was a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On 21 February 2009, McIntyre appeared live as a guest judge alongside head judge Anton du Beke and fellow guest Emma Bunton in the first round of Let's Dance for Comic Relief. He appeared on the show again in the final on 14 March.

In 2009, McIntyre performed for an estimated total of 500,000 people on his first tour of the United Kingdom that included a record-breaking six nights at Wembley Arena and four at The O2 Arena. His second DVD, Hello Wembley, was another hit. 58 dates have been announced for his second tour in the autumn of 2012, at arenas in ten UK cities as well as Dublin.^[5]

From 6 June 2009, McIntyre began hosting Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, aired on Saturday nights on BBC One. On 5 July 2009, McIntyre appeared on the BBC show Top Gear as the "star in a reasonably priced car", driving around the Top Gear test track in one minute and 48.7 seconds. During his lap of the track he almost rolled the car while going around the final corner.

In December 2009, McIntyre cancelled a stand-up show at short notice after discovering that he would be performing to debt collectors. He had revealed only weeks earlier how he had struggled with substantial debt only a few years before breaking through in to the mainstream. McIntyre stated that he would have gone against his principles by performing the show.^[12]

On 31 March 2010, McIntyre took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, filmed live at London's O2 Arena. Also in 2010 he appeared on the year's edition of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, partnered with Alan Carr. The other participants were Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, Jonathan Ross and Ruth Jones.

On 14 December 2010, it was announced that McIntyre would join the Britain's Got Talent judges' panel in 2011, alongside David Hasselhoff and Amanda Holden.^[13]

On 18 March 2011 McIntyre was among the hosts of the BBC's Red Nose Day.

In Sept 2011 McIntyre quit his role as judge on Britain's Got Talent to focus on his 2012 Stand-up tour^[14]

On Christmas Day 2011 McIntyre hosted a Christmas Special of his show, ‘’Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow’’, that featured Jack Dee, Sean Lock, Rhod Gilbert, David Mitchell, James Corden, Miranda Hart, Rob Brydon and had music from Pixie Lott and Kylie Minogue. The show was watched by 8.1 million viewers.^[15]

Radio[link]

McIntyre's radio appearances have included:

• Does the Team Think? (BBC Radio 2)
• Heresy, 4 Stands Up, Happy Mondays, The Unbelievable Truth (all on BBC Radio 4)
• The Jon Richardson Show (BBC 6 Music)
• The Jonathan Ross Show (BBC Radio 2)
• The Chris Moyles Show (BBC Radio 1)
• Desert Island Discs 2011-07-22 (BBC radio 4)^[16]

Personal life[link]

McIntyre lives in Hampstead, London^[17] with his aromatherapist wife Kitty, a daughter of actor Simon Ward. The couple married in 2003 and have two sons, Oscar and Lucas.

He is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.^[18]

Awards[link]

Stand-up DVDs[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michael McIntyre

• Official website
• Official fansite
• Chortle page
• Tour dates
• Fan Club
• Michael McIntyre at the Internet Movie Database

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