Gogobot Rebrands to Trip.com With Artificial Intelligence App
Photo Credit: Gogobot rebranded to Trip.com, a decent name for an online travel company. Trip.com
Skift Take
Gogobot likely paid some big bucks for the Trip.com domain, and it is making strides with a high-quality recommendation app. Still, everyone in the travel space, especially startups, is feeling like they are running uphill as Google tosses boulders downward. Slow, steady steps may win the day.
Trip-planning and activities site Gogobot has rebranded to Trip.com, an obviously attractive URL that it purchased from investor Expedia this week, and Trip.com updated its mobile app, which is probably more advanced in predictive artificial intelligence than most of the better-known travel companies.
Expedia Inc. had inherited the Trip.com brand from Orbitz Worldwide, which wasted the domain. Orbitz Worldwide had relaunched Trip.com in 2009 as a travel search/media site for flights, hotels, cars, vacation packages, and cruises but never really took advantage of it.
Trip.com co-founder and CEO Travis Katz says he thinks the rebrand will be materially beneficial over the long term and boost search engine optimization although there won't a substantial immediate advantage. He wouldn't say how much he paid Expedia for the URL but it couldn't have been cheap.
The name Trip.com, which is easy to remember, can conjure images of a vacation abroad as well as a jaunt to the restaurant
