Metasearch Outlook 2017Michal Juhas, CTO & co-founder @ HotelQuickly

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Key players in meta world

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Tripadvisor has more visitors than the rest together

(351 vs 230 mil MU)

HotelQuickly on Metasearch

In 2016, we got integrated with:● Tripadvisor● Trivago● Hotelscombined● SkyScanner● Kayak● Wego● HotelLook 3

Huge boost of traffic

Some of Hotelquickly’s deals are really good!

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Takeaways● Easy to integrate● Low barriers to entry● Lots of exposure● Price matters most● Hotel room is a commodity

○ Price war○ No rate parity

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What matters most to Millennial consumers (age 19-35) is price rather than store or brand.

Millennials are becoming less loyal

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A hotel on metasearch

“Consumers tend not to care if Booking.com or Kayak is the actual platform doing the booking, as long as whoever is responsible delivers excellent user experience.” ~Skift

Ideal customer experience#millenials

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Honey, how about we go get some nice room, hmm?

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That sounds romantic!

I can book a room online quickly!

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Siri, book a room for me now, please. 4-star, nearby! #hurry

OK, your room is ready at Viva Garden.

This is what he envisions...

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Wego

Trivago

...but this is the reality!

Hotelscombined

“3,589 hotels around you”

OTA

Metasearch sites

Wholesaler X

Wholesaler Y

Sub-suplierHotel

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Tripadvisor

Website

APIs

APIs

APIs

How will metasearch sites improve customer experience?

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#1 - Voice directed booking

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Stages:

1. Text-based chatting2. Voice bookings

“Voice bookings will become a reality and metasearch should embrace this change.” ~Skift

AI-driven voice-directed booking

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#2 - Personalized search results

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Tripadvisor: Search results (Bangkok)

1,065 properties available

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Apparently best-sellers (or hotels paying highest commission). But is it a good fit for me personally?

Search results on Hotelscombined show a mix of 3- and 5-star hotels. Still not my cup of tea...

Hotelscombined: Search results (Bangkok)

1,551 properties available

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Trivago - search results (Bangkok)

3,716 properties available

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“3,817 properties in Bangkok. Enjoy!”

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Examples:● Rooms with bath tubes for families● Hotels with great roof-top bars for young couples

Search results need to move away from the default based on reviews, price, etc… and become more personalized.

PERSONALIZATION

#3 - Alternative lodging

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Tripping.com

10,589 properties available in BKK, including HomeAway

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If the 3,000+ properties in Bangkok on Trivago wasn’t already overwhelming, 10,589 on Tripping may kill you :-)

AirBnb, HomeStay, … on metasearch

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With thousands of new properties in a destination, will it be easier for customers to pick a room?

Will hotels get less traffic?

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#4 - Hotels on metas

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Google Search:Hotel Amari Watergate Bangkok

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Google - hotel Plaza Athenee Bangkok

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Better price(bye-bye rate parity)

#5 - Mobile is growing

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Trivago’s mobile revenue

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In June 2016, Trivago’s revenue from mobile exceeded desktop for

the first time.

#6 - Automated bidding platforms

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Monetization types

1. CPC ($ cost per click)a. Website redirect

2. CPA (% cost per acquisition)a. Website rediredb. Direct (instant) booking via APIs

3. Advertising (banner ads, …)31

Monetization types

1. CPC ($ cost per click)a. Website redirect

2. CPA (% cost per acquisition)a. Website rediredb. Direct (instant) booking via APIs

3. Advertising (banner ads, …)32

Manual bidding by a metasearch analyst

Automated bidding by data scientists

CPC models

1. Manual CPC bidding with Excel sheetsa. Pull reports, manually merge in Excel, adjust A) CPC bids B) markups

2. Automated CPC biddinga. Pull reports, automatically adjust A) CPC bids B) markups

3. Automated “presence” NEW

a. Tripadvisor does the bidding for the OTAs

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CPA

Metasearch sites push CPA deals recently

Why? Because incentives for both parties are aligned:

● Metasearch gets higher fee● Supplier (OTA) only pays for the actual bookings

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What will happen when all the OTAs get on the automated bidding?

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● Tripadvisor○ 12-15% commission (public tiers)

● Trivago● HotelsCombined

Usually CPA deals.

Direct (instant) booking

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Instant booking on TripAdvisor (via API integration, not website redirect)

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With the instant booking, is TripAdvisor still just a metasearch? Or becoming an OTA?

Food for thought

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TripAdvisor among the OTAs on Trivago

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Can a hotel just skip Booking.com in this flow?(What’s their added value anyways?)

Food for thought

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Individual hotels fighting in the price war

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Better price

Tripadvisor

Trivago

Hotels start using SiteMinder to get on metasearch

Hotelscombined

3,589 hotels around you

Metasearch site

Channel Manager

CPA / automated bidding

Viva Garden

Hotel

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Metasearch takeaways

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● It’s easier than ever to get integrated on metasearch○ New small players fighting with price○ Easy to use wholesale inventory

● Hotels can get on metasearch to skip an OTA○ OTA’s added value for the instant booking option is marginal

● A hotel room is a commodity (only price matters)○ The hotel room is always the same if a customer books via Booking or

Agoda or Expedia○ Millennials care less about loyalty, go for better value for money

Metasearch takeaways

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Brainstorm with me, please!

Michal JuhasMy LinkedIn - HotelQuickly

michal.juhas@hotelquickly.com

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