When traveling to a new city, what do you usually do first to find cool places to go to? Usually, you ask your friends.
Mobissimo, a travel search engine, launches their social network MobiFriends today as an on-site widget. Mobissimo searches 180 travel sites in over 30 countries, to offer users the lowest fare possible. Through MobiFriends, Mobissimo hopes to offer users a comprehensive travel network where users can connect and maximize on their travel experience.
Users can access MobiFriends from the widget on their personal dashboard, or on the search results page. The widget shows users their friends’ upcoming travel plans, recently reviewed locations, and their friends’ suggestions for favorite hotels, restaurants and activities in the location. Users are also able to share cheap fares, travel plans and favorite places with their friends through Twitter or Facebook.
Mobissimo offers several travel-related on-site modules while searching, kind of like a personalized homepage. It has modules with travel blog headlines, popular fares, alternate locations, and now MobiFriends. Users can add or remove these modules and drag and drop them where they wish.
Mobissimo has several competitors in the travel search space, like Kayak and UpTake. While both sites offer reviews for locations, they lack the personal social network feature of MobiFriends. Reviews are extremely helpful, but they don’t compare to friends’ opinions. There has been heavy competition between the travel search sites, but maybe this is the kind of feature that will set Mobissimo apart. We’ve recently reviewed Mobissimo and how it stacks up against Kayak.
not a very smart logo :))
MobiFriends is a very good idea. It brings out what kayak and others lack ..
Mobissimo has been able to accomplish a lot with such a small funding. They will probably have a very lucrative exit if they sell within the next 6 months.
What is that logo supposed to represent? It looks like a bouncing olive.
Looks like someone lost an eye.
really sucks. i’ve tried it and doesn’t work the way it should. i’ll stick to expedia, orbitz and alike.
Why is everything being launched as a widget?
It seems to me that the VCs are telling every startup to do this… “Don’t make a new site, launch it as a widget” seems to be the new refrain.
Looks like a sperm cell…
Looks like a sperm cell…
Travel meta-search falls into the general category of travel research & planning. The sources for most people’s travel related research include: 1) information on the web (tripadvisor, yahoo travel, etc.), 2) friends opinions/recommendations, and 3) expert advice (think travel agents and travel suppliers at destination). Looks like mobissimo is attacking the first two. It would be complete if they add “Ask a Local Expert” feature/widget :).
@ 1 , 4 and 5
Quite an excitement over our logo from the designers
The logo is our mascot, Bissi, the Travel Worm - it travels the net and collects fares information in real time - and it has an Eye, because in one single view you can see your options from over 200 travel sites.
And Bissi is quite a traveler also - check out our Mural :
http://blog.mobissimo.com/uploads/Mobimural.jpg
And Dear Designers, since we have your attention - we have a little secret project that could help unleash your creativity - contact us and will give you the details - info@mobissimo.com
@Mobi Insider - You’ve missed the point. When most of the comments on a TechCrunch writeup about your company are aimed at your logo and not your product then you probably have a problem with your brand image.
A good rule of thumb in branding is that if your logo is so esoteric that you have to explain it to people… it sucks.
http://www.imageco.com
You all sound rather pathetic. Is the corp identity business in such dire straights that you guys have to troll TechCrunch for business? Sad really. No wonder Landor has to turn the business away. And MobiInsider, maybe you should start spending a bit more time on your startup instead of wasting it on message boards
Since you are talking about design, check out Dohop.com. We released a complete design overhaul last week with new features including map selection.
I love the new feature — it’s easy to use and works great.
Viva Mobissimo!
@ 1, 4, 5 Too much negativity here. I immediately recognized the logo as Bissi the Travel Olive….I have no idea what any of you are talking about.
I agree with imageco reg the logo and branding. If people are responding so negatively to your logo then perhaps its time for a logo overhaul. You know what they say about listening to your (potential) customers….market research, you know.
Great idea, though. It has a lot of potential and I wish you all the best with it.