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Online Travel

Vrbo Outspent Airbnb 10-Fold on Advertising Early in 2021

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal
Woman watching mobile phone advertisements

Photo Credit: Vrbo spent big time in early 2020, reaching consumers through YouTube advertising, in many, cases seen on mobile phones. Getty / Luis Alvarez

Skift Take

Airbnb is trying to win on brand with a reduced reliance on Google while the smaller Vrbo embraced YouTube big-time, and will spend, spend, spend to advantage.

Vacation rental brand Vrbo has seemingly made significant gains, even over the larger Airbnb, in recent months, but it was steep advertising spend that bolstered those gains as Vrbo outspent Airbnb 10-fold in U.S. advertising during the first two months of 2021. In other words, Vrbo bought a lot of traffic, overwhelmingly through online video, including Google's YouTube, raising the question whether Vrbo's boost is sustainable. [caption id="attachment_426067" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Screen shot from Vrbo's YouTube ad "Your Together Awaits."[/caption] In the chart below, you'll see that Vrbo spent an estimated $91 million — with $82.6 million of that for online video — in U.S. advertising in January and February, the latest statistics available, according to Kantar Media.

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Airbnb, on the other hand, spent merely one-tenth of Vrbo's level, namely $9 million during that timespan. Airbnb's advertising outlays tilted toward television, with $4.8 million in spend, and the short-term rental brand shelled out $3.9 million for search engine marketing, likely mostly with Google. Online Travel U.S. Advertising Spend January-February 2021 Brand Total Brand Spen

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