On Orbitz, Mac Users Offered Pricier Hotels First

An anonymous reader writes "Travel site Orbitz found out that Mac users tend to select pricier rooms and swanky hotels. So, from now on, they will show more expensive hotel options to Mac users than to PC users. This is why, although I am a Mac user, my Firefox agent string says 'Windows XP' :)" The (paywalled) WSJ report on which Reuter's summary is based carries Orbitz' s softer explanation, which is that the results by platform are an experiment based mostly on presentation and search-result ordering rather than actually naming higher prices based on OS: "[T]he company isn't showing the same room to different users at different prices. They also pointed out that users can opt to rank results by price."

Comments

Well, duh

[crazyjj]

A smug sense of superiority requires constant maintenance.

Re:Well, duh

[Anonymous Coward]

Thus, slashdot.

Re:Well, duh

[jellomizer]

Well not kool aid, but fine wines.

As the company stated they are not offering the same room at different rates, however it is showing the nicer hotels first. If there were enough Linux users to make a difference I would expect that they would give them, the roach motels first.

These systems will try to correlate as much information as possible to give its views the most relevant results. if a Mac User is shown on average to buy a hotel that is 10% more then the cheapest, then orbits to offer the best results will give the 10% above the cheapest as its first options so its customers are not hunting down the list.

Re:Well, duh

[boristdog]

I assume Linux users will sleep in a dumpster. After all, it's FOSS

Free Open Sleeping Space!

Don't be silly, Dumpsters are proprietary. They have connectors to fit only certain types of garbage trucks for emptying.

Now cardboard boxes, THOSE are universal.

Re:Well, duh

[PoolOfThought]

TFA is simply acknowledging what we already know, that Apple users have no problem paying more for things. Is that REALLY so surprising?

Except that's not what is being acknowledged. They're not paying more for the same thing.

They're paying more for things that they consider to be nicer or in some way more advantageous to them. In the hotel case maybe they are getting one that is closer to their destination or where they're more likely to meet someone famous. Maybe they just prefer the pillows at one vs the other. But they're not simply willing to pay more for the same thing - they're willing to part with more money if they feel like they're getting something better in return.

Ah it makes sense now.

[grub]

This makes sense.

When I was looking for accommodations in San Francisco from my MacBook Air, I was offered the executive suite at the 'Beef Chunks in Gravy Bath House'. I could never figure that one out.

Linux users

[GameboyRMH]

...will see offers for "escort services"

Users browsing with IE will be offered a helmet and padded walls.

Users logged into Facebook will be given the option to reduce their costs by selling video from hidden cameras inside the hotel room.

Re:Linux users

[Samantha Wright]

The solution to that is clearly a mesh network of mothers' basements, not any of the above.

Re:Linux users

[An ominous Cow art]

I'm imagining a Beowulf Cluster of mothers' basements...

Re:Linux users

[hippo]

It's called slashdot.org

XP? Why stop there?

[davidbrit2]

Change it to Windows ME, and you can get the senior discounts.

Linux users

[goombah99]

Linux users would be given the address of a home depot, a list of vacant lot sites, and a "makefile" for building a hotel. Unfortunately, there would be library dependencies with links to unmaintained building codes.