Trivago Pushes AI-Powered Ads, Tries to Reduce Reliance on Google

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Trivago filmed its latest television ad, starring German football executive Jürgen Klopp, in English. Then the company used AI to translate the ad into several other languages, and the ad has been released over the past few weeks in nearly 20 markets. 

In addition to translating the voices, the AI changes the actors’ mouth movements to match each respective language. And it adjusts the tones of their voices to imitate native speakers. (The company wouldn't disclose which AI company it’s using.) 

The company last week released a mash-up video of the ad, which shows different lines post-translation. (Skift has been covering Trivago's evolving ad campaigns, including its use of AI for translation.) 

The ad is part of a big push toward marketing, said Trivago CEO Johannes Thomas.

“It's really cool to have one spokesperson across the globe, and that has very promising results in how it activates users,” Thomas said in an interview with Skift. 

The company on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue growth for the first time since the beginning of 2023: Revenue grew 3% to €94.8 million. 

Thomas said growth is picking up. “We have double-digit revenue growth in January, and so we expect double-digit growth in Q1, and we are on track to achieve that,” Thomas said.

“There's always this hypothesis that metasearch is kind of a legacy product. We have the opposite perspective on this, where people are price conscious. For more than half of people, price is a dominant factor … About 40% are comparing prices actively and trying to find deals.” 

Revenue Turnaround  

Thomas said changes to Google ads are primarily what caused Trivago’s repeated revenue declines over the past couple of years. 

Thomas previously explained to Skift that Google Hotels took more market share, and Google's Property Promotion Ads downplayed text ads, which were a source of Trivago revenue. 

Thomas said that’s why the company has been pushing marketing campaigns and other ways to reduce its reliance on Google. 

“Reducing our dependency on Google by investing in our brand — that's basically the strategy we are continuing to execute.”

“The smaller the share of Google from our businesses, the more resilient we are against changes in Google.”

Trivago also raised the commission share it takes from smaller online travel companies that show up in consumer searchers. At least one travel agency ended its relationship with Trivago over the changes. Thomas did not say if any others did the same. 

More AI Investment 

Trivago has been experimenting with several AI tools over the past few months. 

The company in November released AI Smart Search, a new interface that allows consumers to  search for travel using everyday language. It has a similar setup as the tools from Kayak and Despegar, to name a few. 

It includes AI-generated summaries of 300,000 hotels, meant to give consumers snippets of hotel features and customer reviews. 

Now, the company is collecting user data and feedback and working to improve the AI products. 

This is the way where we see search going in the future,” he said. 

“Will you actually have a fast adoption and change in user behavior? I don't think so. But will this increase year-by-year? Yes.”