TripAdvisor Is Being Massively Outspent by Its Biggest Rivals
Skift Take
Even if TripAdvisor can straighten out its Instant Booking feature, it still faces the daunting task of changing consumer perceptions in the face of Expedia, Booking.com and others, which are saturating digital media and broadcasting.
As it tries to compete with Expedia, Priceline and others to become a leading hotel-booking site, TripAdvisor faces a dilemma that numerous competitors have faced before -- getting massively outspent in marketing.
TripAdvisor has some advantages that weaker competitors such as Hipmunk, Room 77 or Hotel Tonight don't but consider that while TripAdvisor grew its total selling and marketing spend 9 percent to $756 million in 2016, at the same time Expedia Inc. ratcheted up its marketing spend 29 percent to $4.36 billion, and the Priceline Group's jumped 23 percent to $4.35 billion.
China's Ctrip, meanwhile, spent a bit more on selling and marketing than TripAdvisor, $844 million, in 2016, and this amounted to a 90 percent jump that was largely tied to its taking control of online booking rival Qunar.
So TripAdvisor's marketing budget is roughly j
