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The travel industry was among the earliest pioneers of online commerce. As Cyber Monday grows in importance for online retailers, it's only natural that more travel marketers are looking to capitalize on all the deal-making.

Ctrip, when acquiring Skyscanner, should call up, or at least compare notes with, companies as varied as Sabre, Travelocity, the Priceline Group, and Expedia when mulling the challenges in integrating a new prized possession. These new playthings can in rare cases turn into the success of a Booking.com, but on the other hand they have the potential to wreak havoc.

With Vista already owning Lanyon, the writing was on the wall for this merger.

As with Cendyn and Guestfolio, further consolidation is likely in the hotel marketing and loyalty sector as the number of competitors proliferate and the opportunities grow.

For now, Airbnb Trips is mostly a threat to the tours and activities sector. But it's not much of a stretch to imagine the service evolving into a full-blown online travel agency in the near future.

Ctrip didn't acquire the largest metasearch engine in Skyscanner but one that is very strong in Europe. Ctrip will now turn Skyscanner into a flight-booking site and will also focus Ctrip on growing domestically, in greater China and Southeast Asia first.

Ctrip is anxious to expand globally and views the acquisition of Skyscanner as a means to expand Ctrip's international footprint in selling air tickets. Look for Skyscanner to increase its booking capabilities and to evolve beyond search under the Ctrip umbrella.

Search advertising continues to dominate travel ad budgets because it's extremely effective at converting shoppers into buyers. But new research on travelers' "path to purchase" suggests travel marketers should question this assumption, finding that earlier stages of the booking process may be equally influential.

In a world as uncertain as today, social impact travel movements are more necessary than ever. During Skift Global Forum 2016, Fathom President Tara Russell delved into the importance of creating experiences for travelers that center around the social interactions.

With Lola's acquisition of Room 77's metasearch tech, Room 77 essentially becomes a consumer insights and hotel search test lab for Lola. Room 77's original founders have essentially exited the business: Google licensed its tech and hired the bulk of its employees, Expedia acquired Room 77's pioneering room-view tech, TrustYou bought Room 77's Checkmate hotel-messaging app, and now Lola picked up the remaining technology.