People have been looking forward to this National Day holiday for a long time.

This is the first holiday after the opening of domestic inter-provincial tourism in July，Another 8-day holiday during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival。Ctrip data display，It is expected that the number of tourists during the 8-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday this year may reach 600 million。

This number exceeds the total number of domestic tourists in the first half of 2020 (11.half of 600 million)，Compared to 7 during the 7-day National Day holiday last year.The recovery level of 8.2 billion has reached 76.7%。Backlog of travel demand due to the epidemic，Concentrated release during National Day。

Major online travel platforms have also launched huge subsidy plans，Competing for customers。

But not long ago, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism suddenly issued the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Online Tourism Operation Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations")，Online travel operators shall not abuse big data analysis and other technical means to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of tourists，Effective from October 1st。

The most lively golden travel week this year，Have you been “killed by big data”？The long holiday is coming to an end，It’s time to review and summarize。

188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino

Same goods or services，Old customers see higher prices than new customers，This is called “big data killing” in the Internet industry。

This word first entered the public consciousness in March 2018。A netizen accidentally discovered it，The hotel room price I have booked on a certain website for a long time is between 380-400 yuan，When viewing with a friend’s account，The price of the same room is only about 300 yuan。

March 2019，A netizen said that he was suspected of being "killed" by Ctrip。At first he purchased a ticket priced at 17548 yuan，Canceled order reselection due to forgetting to select reimbursement voucher，But then I found that the system showed no tickets，When you search again, the price becomes 18,987 yuan。

March 2020，Some netizens broke the news，The prices of the products seen by Tmall Supermarket 88VIP are actually higher than those of ordinary members。Same soy milk，The price displayed by 88VIP is 73.3 yuan，The price displayed by non-88VIP is only 62.8 yuan。

These cases have caused heated discussions on the Internet，Many netizens said they had had similar experiences。

CCTV News Summary，There are three main types of common "killing" routines:

Differential pricing based on different devices，For example, the prices for Apple users and Android users are different；

According to the different places where the user consumes，For example, higher prices are set for users who are far away from the mall；

Differences based on user consumption frequency，Generally speaking, users with higher consumption frequency have stronger price tolerance。

Survey results released by the Beijing Consumers Association in July 2019，88.32% of the respondents believe that the phenomenon of "killing familiarity" in big data is common or very common，56.92% of the respondents said they had the experience of being “killed by big data”，Online shopping、Online travel、Problems in the online ride-hailing field are more prominent。

In fact, the behavior of "killing mature people" has a long history，There is also a precedent in the Internet industry。20 years ago，Amazon has tried 68 best-selling DVDs on the platform，Based on the basic information of potential users、Shopping History、Differential pricing such as Internet behavior，However, it was quickly boycotted and gave up。

In economics, this behavior is called “price discrimination”，Refers to the same goods or services，Facing different customers in different markets，Adopt differentiated pricing。For enterprises，This is a common strategy to maximize profits。

An important prerequisite for the existence of price discrimination is，Companies can distinguish consumer groups with different levels of demand for goods。This is easy to achieve in the era of big data，Internet companies can use account information、Search history、Shopping history, etc. form user portrait，Make a more accurate judgment on their consumption ability and willingness to consume。

A certain degree of monopoly and no possibility of arbitrage，are the other two prerequisites。This also explains why online travel is the hardest hit area of ​​"big data killing"。

The domestic online travel industry is currently highly concentrated。188bet sports betting app download Most platforms adopt the agency business model，Airline、Hotel、Scenic spots and other resources are in the hands of the OTA (Online Travel Agency) platform。5 leading OTA platforms (Ctrip、Where to go、Flying Pig、Tongcheng Yilong、Meituan) has a market share of over 90%，Consumers don’t have many choices。

Booking a hotel on the platform、Tickets or tickets are usually real-name tickets，Cannot be sold again。At the same time，The travel itinerary itself has a certain degree of privacy，If you don’t compare specifically，It is difficult for users to find that their prices are different from others。

Schrödinger’s “Big Data Killing”

But in the opinion of Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law，Consumers’ subjective perception of “big data is so familiar”，Price discrimination in the economic sense，And constitute in a legal sense "illegal behavior that uses big data technology to harm consumers' rights and interests"，Not the same thing。

Chen Liteng, a life service e-commerce analyst at the E-Commerce Research Center of NetEase, told Yiou，Being familiar with big data，The previously announced "E-Commerce Law" has relevant provisions。

Article 18 of the "E-Commerce Law" states，E-commerce operators based on consumers’ interests and hobbies、Consumption habits and other characteristics provide search results for goods or services，The consumer should also be provided with options that are not specific to his or her personal characteristics。

But in real life，There are still differences in people’s understanding and judgment of “big data killing”。

Xiao Liu (pseudonym) and Xiaotian (pseudonym) who often use online ride-hailing software once discovered，There are slight differences in the prices shown by two people traveling the same distance。Xiao Liu thinks，It was because they were using different mobile phones that they were “killed” by the platform。But Xiaotian thinks，Maybe it’s just because I got some coupons。

Xiao Li (pseudonym) told Yiou，If new customers are cheaper than old customers because they have coupons，Although the experience is not very good, it is still acceptable。“There was a special offer when I first registered，But I have already used up this offer。”

But the price will increase if you refresh it a few times when browsing the product，All three said they could not accept it。

Newly released "Regulations"188bet app ，There is a clearer definition of "big data analysis" for online tourism - "Online tourism operators shall not abuse big data analysis and other technical means，Based on tourist consumption records、Travel preferences, etc. set unfair trading conditions，Infringement of tourists’ legitimate rights and interests”。

Zhu Wei, who participated in the drafting process of the "Regulations" told Yiou，Because “big data killing” is concentrated in the tourism industry，Especially book tickets online、Hotel、Tickets, etc.，So the "Regulations" are based on the "E-Commerce Law"，Clear scope of this issue、Supervision methods and punitive measures。

But the crux of the matter is，It is difficult to prove whether the platform has “big data killing” behavior。

Special Researcher of the E-Commerce Research Center of NetEconomy、Li Zhipeng, a lawyer at Beijing Deheng (Guangzhou) Law Firm, thinks，Confirming that "big data killing" itself is difficult to collect evidence。Consumers’ self-search and complaints are one of the clues to discover “big data kills familiarity”，But it is difficult to prove whether online travel operators have used big data methods。

Ctrip、Fliggy and other platforms all argued，Price by airline、Hotel and scenic spot formulation，The platform’s quotations for all users are consistent and there is no “big data killing”，Just because different promotions have different discounts，Relevant rules are detailed in the activity interface。

“So there are many examples of ‘big data killing people’，But there is no case，It seems to have become a false proposition。" Zhu Wei said。

Solving problems depends on competition

In Zhu Wei’s opinion，Want to solve or improve the problem of "big data killing"，Not only depends on supervision，More depends on competition。

Elong since 1999、Counting from the establishment of Ctrip，China’s online travel industry has experienced more than 20 years of development。After 2018，The industry structure is basically stable，Ctrip、Where to go、Tuniu、The "Ctrip Group" formed by Tongcheng Yilong，Formerly known as Ali Travel Flying Pig，Meituan extends from “eating” to wine and travel business，are the three main forces existing in the market。

At the same time，Traffic growth bonus period has expired，The entire market has entered the stage of refined stock operation。It is becoming increasingly difficult for major platforms to acquire new customers，We can only try our best to tap the single customer 188bet sports betting app download value of old users，Therefore, after 2018, it has been continuously exposed that "big data kills people"。

“In fact, the OTA platform has undergone many changes in the past two years，Media exposure is one aspect，On the other hand, competition has become more intense。Old customers also need the most discounts to retain them，Otherwise, run away。" Zhu Wei said。

Original，Where to go after annexation、After integrating Tongcheng Yilong，Ctrip has firmly become the number one OTA platform。But what I didn’t expect was，Meituan’s borderless expansion，Ali joins forces with Fliggy to counterattack，Bringing new variables to this market。

2018，Meituan claimed that the number of hotel room nights (number of rooms occupied * number of days stayed) has exceeded that of Ctrip (Ctrip、Where to go、Sum of Tongcheng Yilong)。2019，Meituan’s share of hotel room nights continues to expand，Continuously exceeding the total of Ctrip series throughout the year，Nearly 50% of the total market volume。This is Meituan’s business with the highest gross profit margin，Contributed a lot to its profitability in 2019。

2020，Meituan continues to develop its wine and travel business。End of July，Meituan restarts hotel group buying，And launch “Super Group Buying Day”、"One Thousand and One Nights" event，Directly targeting Ctrip’s high-star hotel sector。Before the National Day holiday，Super subsidy is also launched、National Day early booking with 40% off and other activities。

Alibaba actually had little interest in the online travel field，Because the correlation with its e-commerce business is not strong。But on September 8, Fliggy suddenly announced the launch of a “10 billion subsidy plan” for hotel products，On September 26, they teamed up with Juhuasuan to launch the “Double Ten Billion Subsidy Plan”。The industry generally believes that，This is deliberately targeting Meituan，Prevent it from continuing to grow in the life service market。

Ctrip also launched a large-scale holiday travel promotion subsidy on September 23，Issue coupons for instant discounts up to more than 1,800 yuan，Applicable to more than 4,000 travel agency routes on the platform、Over 10,000 scenic spot tickets and more than 2,000 car rental company vehicles and other products。

New boots landed，The subsidy war starts again。It stands to reason，This National Day holiday，Consumers should not have to worry about the problem of "big data killing familiarity"188bet sports betting app download 。But what is the real situation？

Conclusion

The book "A Brief History of the New Future" once proposed the concept of "Big Data Paradox" - "When big data is mastered and used by a few people，Can produce miraculous effects，But in a competitive field，After big data is shared or used by everyone，Its effectiveness will be greatly reduced，Even cause destructive effects”。

In fact, big data itself is just a tool，Is it "to do evil" to kill someone or "to do good" to serve?，Requires platform、Joint supervision by consumers and regulatory authorities。

Meng Huixin, an analyst at the Legal Rights Department of the E-Commerce Research Center of NetEase, reminded，Consumers can shop around，Comparison with otherwise identical consumers，And pay attention to whether there are any significant changes in commodity prices in the near future，To tell whether you are "ripe"。

If it is found that there are indeed different prices，You should communicate with the platform to understand the situation on the basis of timely preservation of evidence，Report the true situation to the relevant departments to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests。

*Source of this article: WeChat public account "Yiou.com" (ID: i-yiou)，Author: Gu Yan，OriginalTitle:《Have you been “killed by big data” again?》.