Travolution@ITBPhoCusWright--Brand & trust matter in the world of search

The future of search will be all about branding, according to Anthony Mayfield, head of content and media for Spannerworks.

"Technical tweaks will mean less than brand equity in the future," said Mayfield.

He advised travel suppliers to aim to build a community around their brand, but cautioned against diving straight into a WAYN.com type of endeavour.

But building trust is no easy task.

TripAdvisor is a case in point.

It has a loyal following to be sure, but there are plenty of sceptics who believe its parent company, Expedia, is pulling more of the strings than it lets on.

When asked if Expedia was likely to keep TripAdvisor at arm's length--or at least continue peddling the perception that it's kept at arms length--the audience's response was a resounding no.

Ouch.

Tricia Holly Davis, chief writer, Travolution