Dennis' Online Travel Briefing

Airbnb at times has seemed to lean more toward the rights of guests than hosts while smaller rival Vrbo has done the opposite, tilting toward hosts at some junctures to the disadvantage of guests. Although a host land grab recruitment slugfest is under way, it makes sense to try to carve out a middle ground.

Pressure from regulators and maybe disgruntled partners prompted Google to add free booking links in search results and Maps in travel. Google certainly hasn't leveled the proverbial playing field among advertisers and non-advertisers, but hotels and smaller online travel agencies may see some benefit.

Airbnb went deep while Booking Holdings went wide in terms of product development in 2021. Airbnb assuredly will get back to broadening its product line, if not in 2022, then later.

Expedia Group stepped out of the pack and ceased offering travel to and from Russia because of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The company doesn't have a ton of Russia-related business, so even if the move is more symbolic than anything else, it is an important statement.

Less than a year ago, a Tripadvisor pitch deck about Tripadvisor Plus touted its "multibillion dollar revenue potential." Despite the company expressing confidence in Plus when it scrapped its business model in September, Tripadvisor admitted last week "we haven't found the product-market fit that we're looking for."

Expedia Group's Peter Kern may or may not be correct in his claim that the trend toward long-term stays will eventually weaken to a considerable degree. On the other hand, his Vrbo vacation rental brand probably could have done more to capitalize on the trend.

The online travel space has always been super-competitive, but established players like Expedia Group and Booking Holdings face a growing roster of formidable competitors, including hotels, Google and Airbnb.

Hopper aims to be a big player in short-term rentals, and it's still under development cancel-for-any-reason feature could draw a ton of positive attention from hosts and guests. It could either mean a ton of red ink for Hopper or, if successful, spur competitors to scurry to offer knock-offs.

Airbnb has been a savvy public relations practitioner throughout the years, and the volume of press releases the company churns out annually is legion. Brian Chesky's yearlong digital nomad stint aligns with the company's brand narrative and marketing strategy.

Stock markets, at their best, can be hype killers, and public investors shot down many inflated private company valuations in 2021. This may be a sobering development for IPO and SPAC wannabes in 2022.