Skift Take
A smart look at the factors, including the rush toward direct bookings, that are shaping the entire metasearch sector in 2015.
Today we are launching the latest report in our Skift Trends Reports service, The State of Travel Metasearch in 2015.
Travel metasearch continued its growth spurt in 2014, and 2015 is shaping up as a year of disruption.
One of the most significant developments is that 2015 will be the year that Google finally becomes a force in hotel metasearch after nearly four years of near-irrelevance. The seeds were sewn in late 2014 when Google revamped the format of its Hotel Ads unit, bringing hotel metasearch right into Google.com search results and eliminating the need for users to navigate to its Google Hotel Finder site before being handed off anew to an online travel agency or hotel website.
This takes place as many of the major metasearch sites sprint toward partnering with online travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and car-rental sites to facilitate bookings right within the metasearch sites and apps. It’s all in the name of improving the customer experience and conversion rates.
But while this blurring of the lines between metasearch sites and online travel agencies is taking place, there are legions of critics and boycotters, including some major online travel agencies, airlines and hotel groups.
As part of the report, Skift presents insights and strategies from nearly a dozen companies on how to optimize metasearch participation and what needs to be done.
Skift engaged with metasearch players, airlines, hotels, and advertising experts from around the world to pinpoint the latest trends impacting the sector. In this report, you can read Q&As with executives at InterContinental Hotels Group, Evercore Partners, and Skyscanner, as well get exclusive insight from officials from American Airlines Group and United Airlines.
NOTE: We have moved away from the PDF format for reports; now you can read them in the new, online HTML5 responsive-design format. Check out an example here.
About These Reports
This is the 34th in a series of twice-monthly trends reports that brief readers on a specific trend, providing insight into the current state of the market, the context around the trend, and where the industry is heading in the near future.
After you subscribe, you will receive two reports every month — 24 in a year. Reports are available online in a responsive design format, or you can also buy each report a la carte at a higher price.
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Tags: expedia, google flight search, google hotel finder, hipmunk, kayak, metasearch, otas, priceline, research reports, trivago