TripAdvisor Acquires Majority Stake in FlipKey
TripAdvisor is announcing that it has purchased a majority stake in Boston based FlipKey Inc., which operates a website (www.flipkey.com) which lists vacation rental reviews, same as TripAdvisor lists reviews of hotels. The price paid by TripAdvisor to acquire FlipKey remains undisclosed. For the record, TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc.
“Vacation rentals is the hot emerging category in travel and FlipKey has a great foundation and a smart business approach,” said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor, in a press statement. “We believe we can help FlipKey become the leader in the space and, in turn, FlipKey content will satisfy a growing need for TripAdvisor users.”
For his part, FlipKey founder and CEO TJ Mahony said that “TripAdvisor is ‘it’ in the world of user-generated travel reviews, so we are thrilled to have the support of the TripAdvisor Media Network. We’re honored to have been chosen as the vacation rental provider to the world’s largest travel community and look forward to working with TripAdvisor to build our business.”
Well, that was quick. I did expect this, but not so soon. If TripAdvisor hadn’t bought out FlipKey, it would have been a big mistake in the long run. I did a backgrounder on FlipKey some time back, for which I had a chat with FlipKey CEO T.J. Mahony, and if you read that, you’ll discover that FlipKey had homed in something which is the future of online travel reviews. Its a pretty good idea for TripAdvisor to buy out FlipKey from the point of view of getting a foothold in vacation rental reviews. But that’s not the main reason for this acquisition.
The main reason is FlipKey’s patent pending ‘Reputation Manager’, which allows vacation rental manages to upload booking records to FlipKey via their software platform or local files and proactively invite guests to leave reviews. FlipKey then emails actual guests, with a customized invitation to review the specific property they stayed in.
Can you imagine what would happen if TripAdvisor implemented this on its own site, with hotels having to upload booking records, and only registered guests being allowed to post reviews for hotels they have actually stayed in? It would mean a tectonic shift in the ‘online travel review’ business. I have a strong feeling that is where this is heading to.
Correction: First draft had a title which said ‘TripAdvisor Acquires FlipKey’. Considering that they haven’t purchased it outright and in full, I corrected the title to ‘TripAdvisor Acquires Majority Stake in FlipKey’.
Posted on August 21st, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News
Quite interesting buy, yes. I’ve been surprised that none of the travel sites I’ve been to has, so far, taken the full grip of the expression Travel site. As a traveler, one want it ALL in one spot, right?
Absolutely, captain. That’s where this is all going to. More and more facilities are being added to travel websites so travelers can get it all in one place - research, deals, booking, social networking, reviews.
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