UpTake’s Experiment with Integrating Blog Content

UpTake recently released a new project called Travel Gems. The online travel aggregator is now including select blog content in their pages – which benefits both them (more website content), and the bloggers (more with visibility).

I spoke with the marketing team at UpTake, and they said this new program was a natural extension of their current business. They gather travel information from all over the web, and use pingbacks to find relevant blog posts for inclusion. Posts are screened and approved by editors to ensure high quality. From their site:

UpTake showcases bloggers’ posts throughout our site. Every post is reviewed by our editors and covers things to do, places to stay and where to go. The posts are relevant to travelers. For example, a post about a hotel stay will appear but, a post about a bad day at the office won’t appear. By showcasing posts from blogs alongside travelers’ reviews, travel searchers can find better, more relevant information and make better trip decisions.

[Example: Santa Monica page]

Since this just launched, there has not been much market feedback yet, but apparently the people who do know about it are very enthusiastic.

I know the majority of you aren’t travel bloggers, per se, but I think smart hotel publishers should take notice of this strategy.

How could you aggregate blog content into your own websites?