Skift Take
Expedia Inc. is following the TripAdvisor playbook on Trivago, which could go the spinoff/IPO route one day. The Priceline Group, meanwhile, is focusing on Booking.com and new-prize OpenTable as priorities while being measured about Kayak's international expansion.
When the Priceline Group acquired Kayak in 2013 the smart money viewed the transaction as finally spearheading Kayak's international growth, and that still may happen, but Priceline CEO Darren Huston made it clear this week that Kayak's growth will take place at a deliberate pace.
If you are immediately thinking that it was inevitable that Kayak would would fade somewhat within the Priceline Group brand portfolio then just consider how fellow metasearch player Trivago is soaring within the Expedia Inc. panalopy of brands.
Priceline's and Expedia's strategies for their metasearch prizes, Kayak and Trivago, respectively, are a study in contrasts.
During the Priceline Group earnings call earlier this week, CEO Darren Huston said Kayak is doing additional marketing in Europe and is operating "beyond our expectations," but that its growth would have to be "in a very sustained fashion."
Taking Things Slow With Kayak
"I would say that Kayak, since the day we acquired it, has exceeded our expectations from a profit standpoint," Huston said. "And I'm really proud of the work that Steve [Hafner] and his teams have done. I would say we are not as aggressively investing. We certainly don't want to invest at a loss to build the Kayak bus
