October 10, 2008

SEW Experts: The New Era of Travel Affiliate Marketing

As the travel segment gets increasing crowded, and the major online travel agencies continue to build brand identity, the race to leverage new opportunities in search and social media is most definitely on for smaller players. In today's vertical search marketing column, "The New Era of Travel Affiliate Marketing," travel search expert Elisabeth Osmeloski looks at just how important affiliates are to the online travel industry.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

Kayak.com Launches Display Ad Platform

Travel search site Kayak.com has announced the launch of a targeted display advertising platform. The platform was developed by SideStep.com, which Kayak acquired in December 2007.

Kayak says display advertisers will be able to target a variety of search criteria, similar to existing text ads offered through the Kayak Publisher Network. Examples of search criteria are:

Destination
Origination
Trip dates
Length of stay
Specific airline/hotel/car brands and car type

Three ad sizes will be available, which are in line with IAB standards:

180x150 pixels
160x600 pixels
300x250 pixels

Kayak and its affiliates generate 200 million ad impressions per month on air, hotel, and car search results pages. Currently there are over 30,000 text placements from more than 2,000 brands on the Kayak Publisher Network.

"Our advertisers have repeatedly told us that display ads can communicate travel services in a way that text ads cannot," said Steve Hafner, Kayak.com co-founder and CEO. "Yet we know that some consumers dislike these ads and find them distracting. I believe we've found the right balance by allowing our registered users to suppress or view them, whichever they prefer."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 22, 2008

SEW Experts: How Search Marketing Slays Seasonality in Travel

The most sophisticated advertisers in online travel rely on years, even decades of data collection and analysis to formulate their marketing plans. In today's Vertical Challenge column, "How Search Marketing Slays Seasonality in Travel," travel search expert Elisabeth Osmeloski notes that pearls of search marketing wisdom handed down from the top dogs in travel can make an impact on your bottom line.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

November 5, 2007

SEW Experts: Searches in Vegas, Stay in Vegas

In so many ways, Las Vegas is the best-marketed city in the world. Given that sophistication, one would expect to find all the main casinos, restaurants, night clubs, and shows listed in paid search results. In today's Search Ads column, "Searches in Vegas, Stay in Vegas," Matt Spiegel shows that, just as there's no sure thing in a casino, there's no sure thing when it comes to paid search utilization.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

May 9, 2007

Travel Search Overview: Informative or Commercial?

In the United States, the summer travel season is about to begin and the most used method for booking and researching travel options is the web.

Yahoo Travel has geared up to meet the demand, as well as launched a new Trip Recommendation module to boost their position in the space.

The last time Search Engine Watch looked at Travel search engines was in 2005. I had a look to see how the sites mentioned were doing.

Allcheckin.com, the UK engine, did not stand the test of time - though you would have thought someone would have at least made a deal for forwarding the traffic for some affiliate money....

AOL Pinpoint Travel is still there but now it is powered by Kayak.

DoHop.com seems to be hanging in there. The site is clean and loads quickly and the travel guides are informative.

Expedia and Kayak are thriving. IgoUgo is still here and I have noticed it has an aggressive affiliate push.

Mobissimo, Orbit, Travelocity and SideStep all appear to be healthy.

Travelazer has become a custom Google search engine. TripAdvisor is growing its content and branding.

FareCompare is a newer entry and I met someone from the site at NYC SES. They seem to be committed to expansion and have a user friendly interface.

The online travel industry is always going to be competitive. Comparison and aggregator engines will be a big part of this space, but as Yahoo is developing now - the future source of the traffic may come from online communities discussing and sharing travel ideas.

Jasper Malcolmson, director of Yahoo! Travel, said "by tapping into the collective intelligence of other like-minded travelers, there is a greater ability to plan and take truly memorable trips -- no matter how near or far you want to go."

Combined with speciality engines like WhatsOnWhen the travel industry looks like it will continue to grow.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:12 AM | Permalink

April 11, 2005

Kayak Launches Self-Serve Ad Product; Priceline Releases Travel Search Tool

The only area that might be as hot as mobile search these days is travel search. How about a "mobile" travel search tool (that would also allow you to tag your results)? That would sure have some good mojo. (-:

When Danny blogged about Kayak.com coming out of beta in February he mentioned that the travel search engine would also launch a paid listings program. As of this morning Kayak's new self-serve advertising service is up and running. This Reuters story has more about the patent-pending technology that Kayak.com is using.

From Reuters: Paid-search advertisers could use the company's new self-service tool to concentrate their spending on dates when they have empty rooms in certain hotel properties, or to promote flights between certain cities on specific dates, said Steve Hafner, Kayak's co-founder and chief executive. The ads will be shown to consumers whose travel search queries meet the criteria defined by the advertiser -- potentially resulting in better-targeted ads for price-conscious travelers.

Also on the travel search docket today is news that Priceline.com is launching a travel search engine that will scour fares, hotel room rates, etc. from Priceline partners. This is in addition to Priceline's well-known Name Your Own Price feature. More in this Dow Jones story and this news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:25 PM | Permalink

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