Trivago Considers Adding Free Links Like Google Did
Skift Take
Will Trivago, a hotel price-comparison site based in Germany, add free links from hotels and online travel agencies like Google did in 2021? CEO Axel Hefer dropped several hints that such a scenario could be looming.
In a Skift interview Wednesday, Hefer said Trivago would consider adding free links on Trivago to supplement paid links from advertisers, but he declined to comment on whether such plans were in the works. In theory, he said, the broader comprehensiveness that free links could generate would be particularly useful in Europe, where independent hotels, and not chains, dominate.
The free links might attract a larger number of travelers using Trivago to shop for deals.
Booking Holdings and Expedia Group, which is Trivago's controlling shareholder, are Trivago's dominant advertisers. Some 81 percent of Trivago's referral revenue in the second quarter came from Booking Holdings brands (52 percent) and Expedia Group brands (29 percent).
On so-called metasearch sites such
