Facebook VP: Travel Sites See Huge Engagement Upside in Using Platform

Speaking at the PhocusWright Conference on Wednesday, Facebook Vice President Dan Rose said that the company sees every site being a social experience in the future. Rose said that “People will come to expect a social experience when they visit your site. It will be the exception not to have a social experience.”

Rose also shared some statistics about sites integrating Facebook’s platform that were pretty interesting.

• People connecting to TripAdvisor through Facebook are 2x more likely to contribute content than non-FB connected users
• Airbnb guests who have connected their Facebook accounts make 85% more bookings and hosts on the service who connect receive 28% more requests and are 45% more likely to have a viable, active listing.
• 85% of Gogobot users are Facebook connected and these users write on average 60% more reviews than non-connected users.
• 28% of new sign-ups each month on Gogobot come from Facebook connected users inviting their friends

When asked about privacy, and how Facebook will make customers comfortable with sharing when there are privacy downsides, Rose said that control was most important.

Make sure users are in control. We are very clear and up-front with people and we always make sure that they can reverse what they’ve done. As long as people are in control they will feel comfortable with sharing.

Rose also said that people are 60% more likely to remember “social ads” coming from friends, reiterating his stance that “the wisdom of friends is going to surpass the wisdom of crowds.”