Online Restaurant Promotions

by Benjamin G. Edelman

Abstract

A variety of services offer consumers benefits for dining at participating restaurants. This case examines four such services: Entertainment Book, Restaurant.com, Rewards Network, and OpenTable. Despite key functional similarities, each of the services chooses an importantly different approach-different pricing, different benefits to consumers, different benefits to restaurants, and different underlying technologies.

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Internet; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry;

Format: Print

16 pages

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Citation:

Edelman, Benjamin G. "Online Restaurant Promotions." Harvard Business School Case 909-034, October 2010. (Revised from original January 2009 version.) (request a courtesy copy.)

About the Author

Benjamin G. Edelman

Associate Professor of Business Administration, Marvin Bower Fellow

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets

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More from the Author

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2013

Exclusive Preferential Placement as Search Diversion: Evidence from Flight Search

Benjamin G. Edelman and Zhenyu Lai

We analyze the incentives for a two-sided intermediary to divert consumers to its favored destinations. Applied to Internet search engines, we investigate a diversion mechanism based on Google's exclusive award of preferential placement to its own services. Using web traffic data from a quasi-experiment involving the introduction of Flight Search, a Google travel search service, we identify and measure the impact of diverting search away from non-paid algorithmic links to competing online travel agencies. Controlling for search intent, we find that Google's differential placement of Flight Search across similar search queries led to an 85% increase in click-through rates for paid advertising and a 65% decrease in click-through rates for non-paid algorithmic search links to competing online travel agencies. As search engines increase monetization of clicks by integrating specialized services into search results, our analysis suggests that exclusive preferential placement disproportionately impacts traffic to top sites most likely relevant to users' requests.

Citation:
Edelman, Benjamin G., and Zhenyu Lai. "Exclusive Preferential Placement as Search Diversion: Evidence from Flight Search." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13–087, April 2013. (data appendix.)

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | 2013

Distribution at American Airlines (C)

Benjamin Edelman

Presents 2011-2012 updates to American's distribution strategy including new challenges and disputes

Citation:
Edelman, Benjamin. "Distribution at American Airlines (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 913-034, March 2013. (request a courtesy copy.)

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | 2013

Distribution at American Airlines (D)

Benjamin Edelman

Supplements the (C) case

Citation:
Edelman, Benjamin. "Distribution at American Airlines (D)." Harvard Business School Supplement 913-035, March 2013.

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