Expedia News

HomeAway president John Kim, after a manner, is trying to turn HomeAway into the type of company that Airbnb is -- one that is focused on technology improvements and a great user experience. In many ways, Kim has the tougher job. He isn't starting from scratch, as Airbnb did, but is attempting to spur changes in a company that has been around since 2005 and grew through a flurry of acquisitions.

With Lola's acquisition of Room 77's metasearch tech, Room 77 essentially becomes a consumer insights and hotel search test lab for Lola. Room 77's original founders have essentially exited the business: Google licensed its tech and hired the bulk of its employees, Expedia acquired Room 77's pioneering room-view tech, TrustYou bought Room 77's Checkmate hotel-messaging app, and now Lola picked up the remaining technology.

The IPO that we all knew was coming is finally here.

Everything you need to know about the future of online travel in one two-minute segment.

Regardless of how visually appealing a destination’s content may be, if it doesn’t tell a story it likely won’t sell a destination. Below are 3 ways destination marketers can make sure they’re differentiating their brand’s visual content.

Direct booking is not really a war where one side must lose. Both the large hotel chains and online travel agencies could wind up better off if they act rationally on pricing.

If publicly traded companies such as Google are bound by fiduciary duties to shareholders, then Google, which already has one of the largest travel businesses in the world, larger than the Priceline Group, TripAdvisor and Ctrip combined, would be foolhardy to shoot its advertising business in the foot to become an online travel agency.

Google is getting disrupted on a number of fronts and the emergence of Facebook as a viable advertising alternative -- or supplement, actually -- for Expedia and other big travel advertisers is part of it.

Voice search, along with other user experience changes, present challenges to the existing titans of online travel. The companies that are smart about handling that transition will prosper in a mobile-first world.

Critics of Expedia Inc.'s 2014-2015 acquisition spree appear to have had a valid point: These sorts of mergers and integrations can be very distracting and complex. Expedia has felt the pain now in the second and third quarters and could be in for some more until it get can get things back on course. Expedia's competitors will take advantage.