Video: Shake-Up in the Online Booking World

From CNBC: Online travel site Priceline reported strong earnings yesterday, but its weak outlook caused the stock to take a dive. Jason Clampet, Skift Co-founder, discusses the alliances and strategies of online travel accommodations.

Takeaways: It’s fair to say that Expedia is considering Airbnb when it makes an acquisition like HomeAway, but it’s much really more about Expedia having a hand in every part of the travel experience than playing defense on the sharing economy. HomeAway is a much more mature company than Airbnb and it’s also public, so Expedia and the market understand its financials rather than guess about what’s really happening at a unicorn. It’s also about Expedia playing the long game as travel brands seek direct relationships with consumers and try to cut out middlemen like the OTAs. And it’s also about Expedia snatching up a big brand before Priceline or TripAdvisor can do it themselves.