[or: The Ambiguity of User Intent in Searches]
Here at Travolution we don't typically set out to offend anyone, much less entire populations of cities and towns across the globe.
That said, does anyone know where Harvey is?
[Cue frantic searching on Wikipedia]
It seems Harvey is quite a popular place name, in fact. There are four in the US alone, not to mention the one in Australia.
But despite sitting alongside with some very knowledgeable destination hacks at Travel Weekly, we were all forced to brush up on our geography recently after a curious run of events.
After searching for the well known travel firm 'harvey world travel' on Google last week, we came across Kayak recommending itself in sponsored listings as the "Office Harvey Travel Site".
Schurely schome mishtake?
Apparently not. Kayak assures us it is not trying to cause any confusion and it's all to do with "the ambiguity of user intent".Their man says: "When a consumer searches for Paris Hilton, are they looking for the celebrity or the hotel in Paris?
"The only thing we have to work with is the query the user puts in the search box. For all the power search gives you, it is unclear what the consumer mind is after."
Kayak says it has a database of locations across the world and its keyword campaign picks up terms accordingly.
It just happens that Harvey, in the grand scheme of things, is a travel destination that Kayak UK is in interested in and, by remarkable coincidence, is also the name of a major travel brand.
Has anyone been to Harvey?
Interesting response from Kayak.....
If what they are saying is correct, perhaps they could explain which Harvey (wherever it may be) are they the ‘OFFICIAL’ site for? If I was Harvey World Travel I would be asking my Lawyers to take a closer look...
Now, it's that sort of litigious attitude that lines the pockets of lawyers and gets us all into trouble. I wonder what would happen if Kayak said it was the official site for the 'global travel market.' It's geographic database must be pretty big afterall. BTW, if you click on the kayak ad, you go through to Harvey, Illinois.