Expedia News

To some extent, Expedia is molding HomeAway to its liking. Unlike Booking.com (for now, at least), HomeAway is backing off its goal of making all vacation rentals online bookable. Expedia is also adding apartments in urban areas to better compete against Airbnb and Booking.com.

Expedia is telling hotels that if they "play well" with Expedia it will be very advantageous and the outcomes may not be as positive if hotels decide to rewrite the rules. Many big chains have not appreciated how Expedia has played over the years and they are voting with their proverbial feet.

Google tends to favor digital products over human-facing services but it's possible that a new "travel assistant app" could blend the two. Then again, they've tried this before.

Online travel agencies such as Expedia and the Priceline Group providing business services to hotels is seemingly the new normal. It's easy to understand how this would be valuable to resource-strapped independent hotels but the degree to which major chains sign-on remains to be seen.

We'd rather see PricewaterhouseCoopers or another neutral party estimate the revenue impact of hotel chains' direct-marketing campaigns instead of relying on Expedia, which obviously has vested interests. Still, Expedia's chart furthers discussion and the dialogue under way with hotels, and speaks to how seriously Expedia views the threat and the issue.

Barry Diller's intelligence is not artificial at all and it's sometimes underrated. Diller has been one of the superstars in crafting the trajectory of online travel through his acquisitions and perseverance when things didn't always go smoothly.

While Expedia has been on a growth spurt given all of its acquisitions over the past year, Priceline has been saying that its "competitive moat" is wide but under-appreciated. A Priceline acquisition of TripAdvisor would make a bold statement and widen that competitive moat for all to see.

All companies want repeat, loyal customers. Expedia is willing to buy their allegiances through loyalty programs while Booking.com vows to do without. It's another point-counterpoint between the two companies as they compete against one another in villages and cities around the world.

Boutique may work when it comes to a relatively small business and finding a nice hotel room for the night, but the biggest travel companies, such as Expedia and Marriott, need to get bigger to keep up with the competitive pack.

Trivago's TV ads are a key element of its growth and success; other travel companies should view them as a case study in taking the digitally oriented test and learn manta into offline advertising.