According to the “Web Brand Survey Spring/Summer 2014” conducted by Nikkei BP Consulting, travel related sites showed considerable success- “Jalan Net” achieved the largest growth the in the “web brand index” and “JTB” came in the 2nd. In the survey, internet users evaluate 500 domestic and international sites in terms of their “strength of brand.” (overall ranking is shown in a chart below, figure on the right is from data released by Nikkei BP) 
Jalan Net progressed in the site utilization points such as the “access frequency.” In addition, “conversion” went up 9.3points and other points including “convenience”, “reliability” and “repeat users” increased, resulting in 14.8points growth for “site loyalty” gaining a high evaluation of 83.1points. Also, “utility value”, upturned especially because of a campaign for the “Golden Week holidays.” As for the overall scores of the site, it advanced to rank the 9th from the 33rd.
Data Released by Nikkei BPJTB advanced in “conversion”, “site loyalty” and notably in “attitude transformation” which increased by 25.6points. In “interest in services provided” and “wish for purchase/application”, its points exceeded Jalan Net. The JTB site newly added topics section on upper right corner of its top page and this resulted in attracting more users. As for the overall scores of the site, it jumped to the 27th from the133rd.
Data Released by Nikkei BP“Yahoo! JAPAN” got the number 1 ranking among all sites. Its evaluation on “conversion” took a rapid uplift of 21.4points increase. “Rakuten” gave up the 1st place for the third time in a row since the survey of fall/winter 2012. It obtained the 2nd place, however “interest in the products/services” and “reputation of the company” went down.
Among the tourism industry sites, in addition to “Jalan Net” and “JTB”, following sites were ranked within the top 50: “ANA” (22nd/23rd on last survey), “Rakuten Travel” (23rd/ 12th), “Eki Net (JR East Net Station)” (36th/ 81st), JAL (39th/52nd) and East Japan Railway (47th/121st.) Tourism related sites, in general, grew strongly and 4 sites which did not appear in the last survey ranked within the top 50 this time.
The survey was conducted during April 9 to 22, 2014 on internet and the number of valid response was 36,330. Points to be evaluated were: “access frequency”, “site usability”, “conversion”, “site loyalty”, “attitude transformation” and “ripple effects.”
[“Web Brand Survey Spring/Summer 2014” Overall Ranking Top 10]
Name of the Site: Score (Rank on the last survey: difference in two scores)
- Yahoo! JAPAN：125.8（2nd：+6.5）
- Rakuten：118.4（1st：-1.7）
- Amazon.co.jp：114.4（3 rd：+8.7）
- Google：95.6（5th：-1.2）
- Kakaku.com：87.0（8th：+4.1）
- Suntory：81.6（7th：-1.9）
- You Tube：80.2（6th：-5.5）
- Wikipedia：77.9（9th：-2.8）
- Jalan net：76.2（33rd：+12.8）
- Yamato Transport：76.0（10th：-1.0）
(Travel Voice Editorial Department)
