Skift Take

Advertising in travel metasearch used to be near the top of the list for online travel agencies and hotels. But then along came Google Hotels, YouTube, and TikTok, as well as hotel and online travel agency loyalty programs to deflate the value proposition.

Dennis Schaal

Travel metasearch companies used to be among the hottest things in travel. They enabled consumers to compare hotel or flight prices from multiple vendors at a glance, and many online travel agencies saw the need to acquire one.

In 2012, Booking Holdings (then called the Priceline Group) announced a deal to acquire Kayak and Expedia took a majority stake in Trivago.

In 2016, China's Ctrip (now called Trip.com Group) agreed to acquire Scotland's Skyscanner. “We could see their [Skyscanner’s] tremendous growth” in selling airline tickets in Asia, Trip.com Group CEO Jane Jie Sun told Skift at the time. “When the opportunity comes, we move very fast.”

As a rule, metasearch sites don't sell the majority of the airline tickets or hotel stays on their sites – travelers click over to online travel agencies, hotels or airlines to book them.

A Struggling Metasearch Category?