Sorry for the length, lots to cover...
This is all very new (of course) and I'm still reviewing it on behalf of our clients. My guess is that TripAdvisor is trying to become more like Google, Expedia, and Booking.com whereby they have all your information on their site so that people don't have to leave their site and will make a booking right there and then. Essentially, they're becoming more of an OTA and less of a directory in order to compete with the other OTAs. Whether you decide to get in the cage with the former 900lb gorilla and feed it bananas is up to you
If you think about it for a minute it's easy to understand their motivation especially from the perspective of the potential guest as everything they need is right there at their fingertips. Directories are the old way of doing things on the internet where a website sold you listings, asked you to create your own description, upload your photos, etc. and then they sold you a link to your website.
Google killed the directory model over a decade ago as they wanted to be THE directory for the web which is one of the main reasons BedandBreakfast.com is no more and you don't see B&B directories at the top of your Google Analytics reports. The directory model is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! There are some exceptions to this but they're very niche and even Select Registry has been hurting because of this for over a decade now. For reference, I created one of the first online B&B Directories and we saw the writing on the wall and shut it down forever ago when we saw the direction Google was going. If someone has a listing with a national directory that is bringing you tons of revenue (actual revenue, not just traffic) I'd love to hear about it as all my data says none of them are rocking it.
Regarding Photo Copyright Usage...
We had a client years ago receive a demand for payment from Getty Images for a photo used on their website. The photo was of a fountain on their property shot by a photographer they paid to shoot the inn. After looking into the issue we found that many photographers own the copyright to the images they shoot even if you've paid for them. In fact, what the innkeeper usually has is a usage agreement to use the photos in their marketing. I have no idea if these agreements allow you to transfer those rights to another entity but I'm guessing they do. In this case, the photographer hadn't granted them usage rights and had sold the images to Getty so they actually had a valid claim. The issue was cleared up when the photographer granted them usage rights but what a weird issue to have no rights to a photo on your property you paid to have taken! Note: this was NOT one of the main photographers in our industry which is why I ALWAYS recommend you use one of them. Here's my shortlist of recommended photographers:
For what it's worth...
Scott
https://www.whitestonemarketing.com
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