The newest app from
Kayak
co-founder and serial entrepreneur
Paul English is aimed at fixing what he calls the “broken” system that
currently exists for online reviews.
“Like Yelp and Tripadvisor and Google - I think they largely
have two problems. One, they are reviews by people who have nothing in common
with me and [two] there’s a lot of fake reviews as well,” he says.
To solve those problems, English has created
Deets
, an app
that provides recommendations based on reviews from a user’s friends, people
they follow and from other users with similar interests.
The app launched in late January in Boston and New York,
starting only with restaurant reviews and recommendations. English says lodging
and events will be added in those markets this summer with plans to expand to
15 cities across the United States by the end of this year and then
international expansion in 2024.
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For lodging, English says he has a “term sheet with a top
lodging provider” that will be announced soon, and users will be able to book a
stay directly with the hotel or through a third-party partner. Deets will make
money through commissions on hotel bookings.
When users install the Deets app, they are prompted to
invite friends to download it. English says driving that social networking
effect will be the biggest challenge initially.
“We’re going to be doing PR campaigns and marketing
promotions in Boston and New York this summer," he says. "And we’re partnering with top
foodies on Instagram.”
But he also says that social aspect is what will
differentiate a Deets review.
“When you let people write anonymous reviews from the
basement of their mother’s house, they just write nasty stuff. And on Deets,
because it’s a social network, if I write a bad review, only my friends see it.
So there’s not as much damage to the restaurant or hotel,” he says. “And
because your friends are going to see what you write, you have social pressure
to write something accurate. And we’re giving hotels and restaurants the
ability to respond directly to anyone on Deets who writes a review of their
property.”
English says he
recognizes there are many competitors vying for travelers’ attention.
“It seems like
every month or two I’m hearing about another competitor emerging,” he says.
“When we created
Kayak, there were five other companies doing the same things as Kayak. Ideas
are cheap and easy, what matters is execution.”