TripAdvisor(R), the world's most popular and largest travel community, has won a gold Halo Award, American cause marketing's highest honor. TripAdvisor won the "Best Use of Social Media" category for their fall 2008 "More than Footprints(TM)" campaign which distributed $1 million dollars between five travel-related non-profit organizations, including: Conservation International; Doctors without Borders; National Geographic Society; Save the Children; and The Nature Conservancy. Run by the Cause Marketing Forum, Halos recognize work that advances the interests of both nonprofit partners and a business, and are judged on conceptual strength, execution, business results, and cause results. The honors were announced in a May 28 ceremony at the Cause Marketing Forum's annual conference in Chicago.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080902/TRIPADVISORLOGO )

In their winning campaign, TripAdvisor harnessed the power of the collective voice and asked travelers to democratically determine the amount of money each nonprofit would receive. TripAdvisor members voted online and the initiative was also promoted through their popular Facebook applications -- Cities I've Visited(TM), Local Picks(TM), and Traveler IQ Challenge(TM) -- and through all Facebook communication channels, including email, newsfeeds, groups, and Facebook Connect. Members could also earn extra votes for their preferred organization for viral promotion via send-to-a-friend and tell-a-friend features. TripAdvisor tapped into YouTube, as well, and created several campaign videos, including one that went viral with more than 1.4 million views.

The More than Footprints initiative generated more than one million votes in total, with nearly a quarter of them coming from social media outreach. Based on the percentage of votes each organization received, the final results were:

  --  Conservation International - $70,000 based on 7% of the vote
  --  Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - $392,000
      based on 39.2% of the vote
  --  National Geographic Society - $54,000 based on 5.4% of the vote
  --  The Nature Conservancy - $137,000 based on 13.7% of the vote

  --  Save the Children - $347,000 based on 34.7% of the vote

"We're honored to have been recognized by the Cause Marketing Forum for this important initiative," said Christine Petersen, chief marketing officer of TripAdvisor. "We feel strongly that travelers can leave more than footprints behind by making a difference in the places they visit, and our campaign gave them -- and their friends -- the tools to do it."

About TripAdvisor Media Network

TripAdvisor(R) Media Network, operated by TripAdvisor, LLC, attracts more than 33 million monthly visitors* across 14 popular travel brands: TripAdvisor(R), www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.frequentflier.com, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com and www.virtualtourist.com. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million monthly visitors*, 10 million+ registered members and more than 23 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded sites cover more than one million destinations, hotels, restaurants and attractions and operate in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/), the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/), Ireland (http://www.tripadvisor.ie/), France (http://www.tripadvisor.fr/), Germany (http://www.tripadvisor.de/), Italy (http://www.tripadvisor.it/), Spain (http://www.tripadvisor.es/), India (http://www.tripadvisor.in/), Japan (http://www.tripadvisor.jp/), Portugal and Brazil (http://www.tripadvisor.com.br/), Sweden (http://www.tripadvisor.se/), and The Netherlands (http://nl.tripadvisor.com/). TripAdvisor also operates in China under the brand daodao.com (http://www.daodao.com/). TripAdvisor(R) Media Network provides travel suppliers with graphical advertising opportunities and a cost-per-click marketing platform. Collectively, the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network have won hundreds of awards and accolades from press and industry worldwide. TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. .

TripAdvisor, More Than Footprints, Cities I've Visited, Local Picks, Traveler IQ Challenge and the TripAdvisor logo are registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, March 2009

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SOURCE: TripAdvisor