Articles tagged “advertising”

Suddenly those seemingly free-spending online travel agencies, which have made Google rich, are toning down their big-spending ways. Google shouldn't be too worried: Expedia and Booking Holdings are still spending billions of dollars on search-engine marketing, but they've just become a bit more stingy. And, they hope, wise.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the most interesting man in the world. Well, not really, but Sojern CEO Mark Rabe thinks Amazon's developing digital advertising business is the most interesting trend he's tracking. He could be right.

Much of the metasearch business is beyond the control of the metasearch companies themselves because their largest advertisers can switch things up five minutes ago. Just ask Trivago, and to a lesser extent, TripAdvisor. The best they can hope to do is to diversify their advertiser base and to keep plugging away.

The word “transparency” is one of those buzzwords that ad networks love to throw around –– but most traditional networks still operate in a black box that makes smart media buying difficult for travel brands. MediaAlpha wants to fix this.

Trivago and Booking.com have dramatically reduced their U.S. TV advertising. Trivago is doing so to try to stem losses, and Booking.com, which last year indicated it would lean into TV advertising, may be trying to tighten control of some marketing costs.

Has the worm turned? Have Expedia and Booking.com found a way to trim the growth of their bloated advertising spend? That would not be great news for some advertising platforms, and would be a significant change in the way the largest players conduct their marketing operations.

A lot of Trivago's problems, including an advertising diss from Booking Holdings, are beyond the company's control so it is doing what it can, namely reducing advertising spend and headcount in an attempt to get into the black. Speaking of Booking Holdings, Trivago may need a dot-com-like Priceline comeback to right the ship.

Online travel agencies remain essential to the travel industry as consolidators of, and clearinghouses for, advertising dollars throughout the space. We do not see OTAs being removed from this position easily, but growing challenges have hurt ad efficiency. OTAs must remain nimble to keep pace.

Online travel agencies remain essential to the travel industry as consolidators of, and clearinghouses for, advertising dollars throughout the space. We do not see OTAs being removed from this position easily, but challenges are growing by the day.

It’s dangerous to give Amazon breathing room in any industry; better to think through its implications for travel today. Amazon is not simply a threat, it offers lessons and opportunities for travel executives as well.