Charles T.

The guys behind this site are really on to something. They have built out a pretty good UI and have kept it simple and easy to use for all kinds of audiences. The service is obviously valuable, since their is so much garbage on the internet these days. People really need a good resource to check what they are getting into. I am sure SJ is gonna be extremely popular pretty soon, so they should hire a solid CS guy to fuel a great customer experience! :)

I read Gawker about 20k times/day. I have actually exchanged emails a few times with several of the journalists there. They just seem to have their pulse on the most topical social themes and news stories at any given moment. They don't sugarcoat or dumb down anything for a mainstream audience. I think that is the main reason why they have broken so many significant stories over the years. The mainstream media doesn't really care what people actually think or want. Gawker does. That's why its great.

I use Yelp pretty much everyday. I almost always have a great experience with it. My favorite thing about Yelp is that it almost always gives an accurate description of a restaurant/business. Whether the reviews are good or bad, I at least have a fair expectation of what I am getting into. But my favorite use for it is when I travel. When I go to cities I have not been to before, and I want to get the true local experience, I rely on the local reviews of bars and restaurants. I have discovered some amazing places that I never would have otherwise and generally avoid the tourist traps.

My girlfriend and I took a trip to Key West over the Christmas holiday and I thought we should try Trivago for our hotel booking on New Years. Historically, Ihave booked almost everything I dothroughHotels.com or Orbitz, but I had just watched an interview on Bloomberg with Trivago's CEO and was impressed enough to give them a try. Key West is usually sold out during New Years, or hotels make you book a minimum of three nights because of the high demand. So I was doubly excited when we were able to pull up just one night at one of the Waldorf hotels on Trivago offered through one of their partner sites. We promptly booked it only to find out it was too good to be true. The partner site was based in Istanbul and never sent any confirmation... because it turned out there never was one. The site didn't actually have to ability book a hotel in the Waldorf's database, but still charged our card. We were fortunate to get the charged reverse by our credit card company, but I was really shocked to have such a shady experience through Trivago. I may try them one more time, but I recommend you be very cautious.

You have probably seen their ads on TV, but the credit report is anything but free, and I do not know how they get away with. Basically, they will give you your credit report, but only after you sign up for their "credit protection" service, which costs 14.95 a month. You cannot get your credit score unless you enter your credit card info. Canceling the subscription is seemingly impossible. So, um, no. By free credit report, they actually mean not a free credit report.