Heard of Schmap?
12 Aug
A week or so ago I was contacted by Schmap, an online travel guide that’s a mashup of reviews, Yahoo Maps and Flickr photos, regarding shortlisting one of my Hawaii photos for their Schmap Hawaii Third Edition. Even though they are a commercial site, I gave them permission to include the photo. What the heck.
Today I received an email that my photo has been included. That would have been fine but they included a link to a widget that I should include on my site to tell everyone that my photo has been included. So not only do they get to use my photo for free (which I don’t have a problem with) but they expect me to help them advertise as well? Ah, no.
I wonder, though, if this is a simple marketing ploy where vanity causes a Flickr-er to advertise their site simply because of bragging rights. This would be similar to the publishers who solicit you for material to include in a book that they then get you to purchase. Or maybe this is how they contact people that they know travel to get them to use their guides. I had not heard of them until now. It’s not like it’s Lonely Planet, Fodors or Frommers, all of which my friends and I tend to use when we travel.
Something I find funny is that they are posting the photo in the Hilo section. As I remember it, this was on the Kona side of the Big Island at the Kona Joe Coffee Plantation.
I have mentioned the site but this is no endorsement. I will reserve some healthy skepticism.
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Tags: kona, hawaii, schmap, photo inclusion
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