Skift Take
Behind the scenes, there may be abundant reasons that Booking Holdings and Airbnb, for that matter, won't be dabbling in Google's vacation rentals business for the time being. Perhaps they are seeking to boost direct traffic or are unhappy with the economics and user experience. Expedia may be positioned to take some advantage.
Whether it's in Singapore, Bangkok, Nairobi or Paris, Booking Holdings' Agoda brand has been actively listing vacation rentals in the one-stop shop Google Travel, but Agoda is in the process of removing its listings, Skift has learned.
Booking Holdings' flagship brand, Booking.com, had not been participating in Google's vacation rental business, but Singapore-based Agoda has been listing its properties there for at least six months.
But three days after Google announced the introduction of a new vacation rental feature that directs users from Google Search to its Google Travel page, and a day after Skift published an article debating whether holdout Airbnb should participate in Google vacation rentals, a Booking Holdings spokesperson said Agoda is in the process of withdrawing, and its listings should be gone shortly.
The spokesperson noted that Booking.com hadn't been participating in Google vacation rentals, and characterized Agoda's presence there as a test.
Google declined to comment for this story.
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In a research note sent Tuesday, Justin Patterson of Raymond James said Expedia Group would be the "biggest beneficiary" near-term from Google's vacation rental business as Expedia brands on d
