Travel Sites Fault Google for Revenue Slowdowns
November 07 2019 - 1:47PM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg
TripAdvisor Inc. and Expedia Group Inc. are struggling to
navigate shifts in how Google delivers information to consumers who
use its search engine to plan travel.
Shares of both travel-focused companies fell sharply Thursday
after executives at both companies cited how Google handles
travel-related searches. TripAdvisor's stock fell 20%, while shares
of Expedia dropped 25%.
Shares of Booking Holdings Inc., which operates travel platforms
including Kayak, were off 7%. The company is scheduled to report
third-quarter results later on Thursday.
Google, part of Alphabet Inc., last year redesigned its hotel
search function for mobile devices and desktop computers to make it
easier for users to find hotels by price and browse amenities,
according to company blog posts. It has also bolstered its own
travel-planning desktop and mobile pages.
But executives at TripAdvisor and Expedia say they aren't
getting as many free links on Google search pages when consumers
look for travel-related services. Both sites allow users to find
hotel rooms, rental cars, flights and other needs for trips or
vacations.
The top challenge TripAdvisor said it faces is what it described
as Google's push to highlight its own lodging offerings in search
results, a move that hurt traffic TripAdvisor would have received
from free links on Google search-results pages.
TripAdvisor generates revenue in part by selling advertising
that is priced based on user clicks. Revenue related to hotels
offered through its sites fell 14% from the year earlier to $197
million for the third quarter.
"Google has gotten more aggressive," TripAdvisor Chief Executive
Stephen Kaufer said on an investor call Thursday.
The search giant's recent experiments with new products have
reduced the space available for what were previously free search
results, Expedia Chief Executive Mark Okerstrom told analysts on a
call Wednesday.
"The trend is that Google does continue to push for more revenue
per visitor, and I think it's just the reality of where the world
is in the internet and the importance of Google," he said.
Google didn't immediately have a comment.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 07, 2019 13:32 ET (18:32 GMT)
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