Skift Take

No matter where in the travel industry you turn, one company seems to be on everyone’s lips: Google.

It was a dramatic third-quarter earnings season for both Expedia and TripAdvisor. In close succession, both companies missed Wall Street analyst expectations and their stock prices fell precipitously. Both CEOs at the time pointed the finger at Google.

Whether right or not, this latest incident exemplifies the huge impact that Google has in the minds of many travel execs. The online giant, after all, touches nearly every stage of the traveler’s journey in one way or another.

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Commensurate with that huge impact, Skift Research estimates that globally, the travel industry may have spent as much as $16 billion in advertising on Google in 2019. Booking Holdings and Expedia Group are the two largest contributors to that.

Google’s impact on travel, though, is increasingly moving beyond just traditional search engine marketing. YouTube is a powerful influence on the travel decisions of many, and Google Maps is one of the most commonly used apps by travelers when in their travel destination.

This report provides an overview of Google’s many business lines and how they interact with the travel industry. We explore the impact of Google across the travel supply chain, including rivals in the metasearch space, uneasy allies at the online travel agencies, and brand clients that can use Google tools to reach their audiences.

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What You’ll Learn from This Report:

  • The size of the travel industry’s spend on Google.
  • Google’s many different product offerings and how they interact with the modern traveler.
  • A look into Google’s three travel-specific vertical search tools in flights, hotels, and vacation rentals.
  • Google’s impact on online travel intermediaries.
  • How do travel brands succeed in a Google world?

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This is the latest in a series of monthly reports aimed at analyzing the fault lines of disruption in travel. These reports are intended for the busy travel industry decision-maker. Tap into the opinions and insights of our seasoned network of staffers and contributors. Over 200 hours of desk research, data collection, and/or analysis goes into each report.

After you subscribe, you will gain access to our entire vault of reports conducted on topics ranging from technology to marketing strategy to deep dives on key travel brands. Reports are available online in a responsive design format, or you can also buy each report à la carte at a higher price.

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Tags: google, google travel, metasearch

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