On Orbitz, Windows users directed to cheaper hotels
Orbitz is experimenting with different criteria as it creates lodging and travel recommendations. The site sometimes looks at operating systems to decide what hotel options to show you. Mac users may be shown pricier options first.
Orbitz is experimenting with different criteria as it creates lodging and travel recommendations. The site sometimes looks at operating systems to decide what hotel options to show you. Mac users may be shown pricier options first.
The fun economics story of the day is that Orbitz sometimes looks at your computer鈥檚 operating system to decide what hotel options to show you. Dana Mattioli breaks the story over at the Wall Street Journal:
The WSJ emphasizes that Mac users see higher-priced hotels. For example, Mattioli鈥檚 article is headlined: 鈥淥n Orbitz, Mac Users Steered to Pricier Hotels.鈥�
My question: Would you feel any different if, instead, the WSJ emphasized that Windows users are directed to lower-priced hotels? For example, Windows users are prompted about the affordable lodgings at the Travelodge in El Paso, Texas. (Full disclosure: I think I once stayed there.)
As Mattioli notes, it鈥檚 important to keep in mind that Orbitz isn鈥檛 offering different prices, it鈥檚 just deciding which hotels to list prominently. And your operating system is just one of many factors that go into this calculation. Others include deals (hotels offering deals move up the rankings), referring site (which can reveal a lot about your preferences), return visits (Orbitz learns your tastes), and location (folks from Greenwich, CT probably see more expensive hotels than those from El Paso).