Skift Take
Reading between the lines, Kaufer is saying that TripAdvisor will continue to be a great source of leads for travel advertisers despite Priceline's pending acquisition of Kayak, and that TripAdvisor's scale makes competitors interesting, but a relative non-issue.
It's been an impactful few months for TripAdvisor and the online travel business, as Google bought Frommer's, Priceline announced it would acquire Kayak, TripAdvisor scooped up Wanderfly, and startup Gogobot alleged that it dictates TripAdvisor's roadmap on social-travel initiatives.
Skift conducted an email interview with TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer, who shed light on these and other issues, while dodging direct answers to some of the questions. But, even for the latter, you can read between the lines to surmise some of the meaning.
Skift: Do you think Priceline's acquisition of Kayak is a net plus or minus for TripAdvisor? Will TripAdvisor lose business from the likes of Priceline and Kayak? Do you think online travel agencies, wary of the Priceline-Kayak relationship, will increasingly look to TripAdvisor as a better lead-generation option?
Kaufer: It’s business as usual at TripAdvisor. We con
