The Evolving Travel Landscape Key Advertising Recommendations to Capture the Modern Online Traveler Eli Goodman - Search Evangelist April 16, 2009
Agenda Brief Introduction Travel Industry ecommerce, Mobile, & Visitation Trends Search & Display Opportunities and Recommendations 2
Data sourced from comscore s global panel of 2MM Internet users 360 View of Consumer Behavior Analysis Parameters Demographics Life Stages Web Visiting and Viewing Online Transactions Representative cross section of Internet users 2 Million Global 1 Million U.S. Passively observed online behavior and: Surveys Match to third-party databases Append offline data Streaming Video Search Behavior Actionable marketing intelligence Competitive insights Better informed decisions More effective digital strategies Media Exposure 3
Agenda Brief Introduction Travel Industry ecommerce, Mobile, & Visitation Trends Search & Display Opportunities & Recommendations 4
Total consumer spending in the travel category reached $18.1B in Q4 2008, up 5% versus Q4 2007 Online Travel Consumer Dollar Sales Excluding Auctions and Managed Travel Q4 08 Y/Y Growth Rates Sales ($ Milli ions) $9,000 $8,000 $7,000 $6,000 $5,000 $4,000 $3,000 $2,000 $1,000 $0 Pkgs/Other +5% Hotel +8% Car +12% Air +3% Q1 09 Y/Y Growth Rates Pkgs/Other +4% Hotel +2% Car +8% Air - 3% Air Car Hotel Packages/Other 5 Source: comscore Marketing Solutions, ecommerce WW Buying on US Sites
Suppliers continue to gain share of online travel dollar spend Share of Online Dollar Spend 47% 45% 43% 38% 36% 34% 32% 53% 55% 57% 62% 64% 66% 68% Supplier Sites Online Agencies 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Q1 2009 Potential for shift to reverse/slow with heavy OTA push for No Fees, Price Assurance, etc 6 Source: comscore Marketing Solutions
Mobile & Travel while travel spend has posted modest growth, travel services are benefiting from increased mobile access Number of Subscribers Accessing Travel Service via Mobile 40000 35000 30000 Thou usands 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Weather Maps Search Traffic Reports 7 Source: comscore M:Metrics Time increments are 3-month rolling averages
Mobile & Travel Frequency of Use Accessed Travel Service via Mobile 10000 Thous sands 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 6,014 6,248 6,753 6,733 6,922 7,081 8,207 8,779 8,372 6,973 6,205 7,651 8,309 2000 1000 0 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Almost every day Once to three times throughout the month At least once each week Ever in month 8 Source: comscore M:Metrics
While traffic levels to the total Travel category in Feb 2009 were down 1% versus the prior year, Travel Information sites held steady Total Unique Visitors (000) within the Travel Category Y/Y Growth Rate Total Travel -0.7% OTAs -4.9% Travel Info NC Hotels -5.4% Airlines -4.4% Car Rental -14.2% 9 Source: comscore Media Metrix
Online Travel Agencies and Hotels experienced higher levels of site conversion as unique visitors declined Year over Year Change Q4 2007 vs. Q4 2008 Site Conversion (Trans/Visits) Average Dollars per Transaction Online Travel Agents +2% -12% Hotels/Resorts +8% -13% Airlines -9% +4% 10 Source: comscore Marketing Solutions
Agenda Brief Introduction Travel Industry ecommerce, Usage, & Visitation Trends Search & Display Opportunities & Recommendations 11
Display ad views for the Travel category and advertisers have declined since Feb 2008 while Hotel Brand advertising is holding steady Total Display Ad Views (MM) within the Travel Category 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 Travel OTAs Travel Info Hotels % Change Feb 08 vs. Feb 09-14% -60% -63% +4% 3,000 2,000 1,000 Airlines Car Rental -23% -67% 0 Jan-08 Mar-08 May-08 Jul-08 Sep-08 Nov-08 Jan-09 Attrition in several categories has begun to slow Travel Info, Airlines, OTAs 12 Source: comscore Ad Metrix
5 out of top 10 advertisers are Hotel Suppliers Top Travel Advertisers Dec 2008 Feb 2009 Share of Ad Views Vacations To Go.com Sites 9.1% Expedia 8.5% Avis Budget Group 7.5% Hilton Hotels 6.6% Disney Travel 5.5% Harrah s Entertainment 4.4% Extended Stay Hotels 4.0% Starwood Hotels & Resorts 3.7% Disney Vacations 3.6% Radisson Hotels 2.4% Better Distribution in the Industry Airlines making strong upward move 13 Source: comscore Ad Metrix, Nov 2008 Jan 2009
Display advertising is having a strong effect on Hotel searching Hotel Searchers & Searches Feb 2008 vs. Feb 2009 (Broad Matched) 48.42 39.68 MM 13.4 15.89 Searchers: 18.5% Increase YoY Searches: 22% Increase YoY 14 Source: comscore Marketer
Internal site searching Travel Information sites Total Searchers, Searches, & SERPs Top 10 Travel Information Sites 30 25 21.9 26.4 20 18.5 MM 15 10 5 4.4 5.6 13.9 Feb. 2008 Feb. 2009 0 Searchers Searches SERPs Displayed Searchers: 27% Increase YoY Searches: 32% Increase YoY SERPs Displayed: 21% Increase YoY 15 Source: comscore Marketer
Internal site searching Online Travel Agent sites Total Searchers, Searches, & SERPs Top 10 OTAs 100 80 68.8 76.5 85.9 89.1 60 MM 40 20 15.6 16.5 Feb. 2008 Feb. 2009 0 Searchers Searches SERPs Displayed Searchers: 6.2% Increase YoY Searches: 11% Increase YoY SERPs Displayed: 3.7% Increase YoY 16 Source: comscore Marketer
Opportunities available in the gap Total Ad Displays Publisher View Travel Information vs. OTA MM 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 734 660 Ad Displays not growing with SERPs Missed 398 410 opportunity for Feb. 2008 additional Feb. 2009 exposure earlier in buying process Travel Information OTAs Extra inventory could lead to great discounts Travel Information: 3% Increase YoY OTAs: 10% Decrease YoY 17 Source: comscore Marketer
Recession relevance Bundled Package clickthroughs up Package Vacations Broad Matched Increase 33.8% YoY MM 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 2.75 3.68 "Package" Clicks Jan. -Feb. 2008 Jan. -Feb. 2009 OTAs Command over 54% of Package Vacations Clicks Mirrored in both Paid & Organic 18 Source: comscore Marketer
Some closing thoughts Even in a down economy, Travel ecommerce spend is still growing Mobile Travel is growing need for well integrated tools Fragmentation of the Decision Making process: Travel Information site visitation holds steady; OTA & Supplier site visitation down Searcher Intensity inside of Travel Information and OTAs increasing More opportunities for internal search & display acquisition campaigns and/or Ad Sales Fewer conversion opportunities = Need for well planned Advertising Strategy 19
Thank You Eli Goodman Search Evangelist egoodman@comscore.com