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Category: Travel

Date: July 5, 2024

What Are Travel Meta Search Engines and How it Impacts Travel Agencies?

Travel metasearch engines have been around for some time. But, recently, it has become one of the hottest trends in the travel industry as more and more travelers are choosing it as their preferred method for finding and comparing prices.

In this blog, let’s find out how travel metasearch engines can help your hotel gain more online visibility and sell more rooms.

What is a Travel Meta Search Engine?

A travel metasearch engine is a price comparison website that compares hotel rates from different sources across the internet, OTAs (online travel agents) or directly from hotels. It must be noted that these metasearch engines are not a booking channel. They are merely a platform through which booking channels can market themselves.

The business model of travel metasearch engines is similar to most digital advertising platforms. They earn money through CPC (cost per click), CPI (cost per impression), CPA (cost per acquisition) and hybrid ads (a combination of CPC and CPA).

Did You Know?

Meta search advertising has generated $6 billion in economic value over the past decade

According to Koddi, these are the top 10 metasearch markets in the world.

What are the top 5 travel meta search engines.

Here are some of the most famous travel metasearch engines.

Up to 87% of users research hotels before booking, and meta-search engines are a popular tool

How Are Travel Metasearch Engines Changing the Industry?

Initially, travel engines aggregated rates by gathering them from sites across the internet so that consumers can compare it before making a final decision. Their main partners were OTAs such as Expedia and Priceline. But due to a complicated setup process and campaign management, many hoteliers avoided using the medium.

Things have changed now. Most hotels can easily get listed depending on the booking engine. For example, instant booking features where users remain on the metasearch site to book has produced a hybrid online booking environment.

One of the biggest changes is being driven by the search giant Google. When it comes to traffic growth and CPC, Google Hotel Ads is overtaking other metas. The search giant has integrated rates into Google maps. They are way ahead of the game and their meta is the most preferred choice for travelers. As more and more vendors get listed on Google Hotel Ads, Google will have more power to dictate the booking preference in the years to come. Hoteliers must maximize this channel or else it will cause a decrease in direct bookings.

Now, the online world is slowly shifting to voice-based search. The major meta-search engines are beginning to create their presence on Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa. Hoteliers who are worried about this shift can rest assured that metasearch engines will come to the rescue.

As per the current market research conducted by CMI Team, the global Online Travel Booking Market is expected to record a CAGR of 12.6% from 2023 to 2032.

Why Should Hotels Get Listed in Travel Metasearch Engines?

Marketplaces that compare prices which vendors offer help consumers make an informed decision. Every consumer wants to feel like they are doing their due diligence before choosing a price. By listing on metasearch engines, hoteliers can give users the knowledge that they are getting a great deal.

Moreover, listing hotels in metasearch engines is not only about growing revenue. It gives hotels a chance to engage with an entirely new set of customers.

PACE Dimensions’ analyzed 10,000 travel websites and found out that metasearch accounts for over 45% of global unique visitors in travel. This number is greater than the number of unique visitors for OTAs in the US.

Metasearch is a valuable space for hotels because it gives them a greater opportunity to compete with bigger travel agencies and get more direct bookings. Plus, they can spend their marketing budget in an efficient way because the bidding system gives hotels control over how they show up with other competitors. Over time, it will give them more freedom to adjust the marketing strategy and increase ROI.

Within 10 years, the hotel metasearch has progressed into a sector that generates $6 billion in advertising. Metasearch engines such as Google Hotel Ads and Tripadvisor is becoming a one-stop-shop for researching and booking hotels. So, it is the perfect time for hotels to start investing in metasearch.

Interesting Statistics About Travel Meta Search Engines

Mirai, an expert in hotel distribution gathered many important data which depicts the growing importance of travel metasearch engines. Here are some of the major findings.

1. Investment made in ads (Google & Bing) vs metasearch engines.

2. Number of times the investment in metasearch grows than ads.

3. How metasearch engines are dominating the traditional ads?

4. Dominance of Google Hotel Ads over others

5. How Google is the leading company in terms of investment

According to an Eye for Travel survey, 94% of travelers use metasearch engines to compare hotel rates

What Are the Pros and Cons of Travel Meta Search Engines?

Travel metasearch engines have its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Let’s find out about them.

• Improved online brand visibility and better ROI
• Lists all the hotel rates in one place
• Price transparency
• Provides reviews in one place which helps customers to make better decisions
• Always displays the best rates
• Increased direct channel bookings
• Cost of getting listed on meta appears to be excessive for some hoteliers
• No proper customer service or support to solve disputes
• Amount of choice can be overwhelming to customers
• Managing the marketing department adds extra responsibility

Before you make the decision to list your hotel on metasearch engines, you must take the above points into consideration. Do you have help to manage your campaigns? Does your budget permit the allocation of third-party optimization services? And are you prepared to pay commission fees for direct booking?

If you don’t have a team of marketers, you will not be able to manage the volume of work required to rank high in the metasearch engines. In such situations, you can outsource the work to get instant advertising expertise from professionals who can offer focused attention on a daily basis. If you are looking for such kind of assistance, you can get help from our digital marketing experts at ColorWhistle .

Drive Conversions and Boost your Business with Expert Travel Website Development.

In conclusion, travel metasearch engines is going to be a real game changer.

Travel metasearch engines will help hoteliers to reign control of their distribution pricing. This means that hotels must take serious steps to create a strong presence in meta sites.

But, hoteliers take an off-hands approach. Many are in the mindset that once they are listed, bookings will keep flowing. This is a misconception. Hoteliers must start thinking of meta sites as an online advertising platform.

Since meta sites work with real-time data, dynamic price marketing is gaining momentum. To succeed, advertising budgets must be set on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Most meta sites offer real-time bid management and ROAS (Return On Advertisement Spending) tracking. So, you can easily measure how well your marketing dollars are being spent.

Even though travel metasearch engines are changing the hotel marketing game, clients do not get a complete value proposition. For hoteliers, driving traffic is the only part role in this equation. Positive reviews and word of mouth is still essential for building trust.

In addition to spending and managing budget , listen to the needs of customers and promptly address the negative feedback in these mediums. Above all, make sure that your hotel is offering true value and amazing service to your customers.

ColorWhistle’s agility in learning travel tech helps to keep our consumers ahead of the curve. If you need any help in travel website development for your travel agency don’t hesitate to contact us . We are always happy to help.

Which travel metasearch engines are you using to advertise your hotel? Share your experience in the comments section below.

More Resources

• Online Travel Agencies – A Brief Introduction
• How to Build a Travel Aggregator Website?
• Best Travel Website Design Ideas And Inspirations For 2024

In quest of the Perfect Travel Tech Solutions Buddy?

Be unrestricted to click the other trendy writes under this title that suits your needs the best!

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The 10 Best (and Cheapest) Airfare Search Sites for 2024

Last updated: August 8, 2024

Frommer’s regularly pits the best airfare search engines, aggregators, and booking sites against each other in a battle royale to see which can find the lowest price on more than two dozen identical searches for flights. 

This year’s results bring new discoveries. We are excited to announce that none of our new top three—the best of the best—is a household name. We are equally excited to discover that if you’re specifically looking for a last-minute deal on airfare, a fourth website, one that’s not even in our top three, is the best choice. And two former airfare search sites fell out of our Top 10 entirely: This year, both Booking.com and FlightNetwork failed to take off.

As for the rest of our Top 10, each one has its pluses and minuses, which we’re about to reveal in our reviews below.

On this year’s list, two sites that previously languished in the bottom half of the reviews have upped their games and zoomed into the top ranks—and one former low performer improved so much that it nabbed the top slot.

We have winnowed down a wide field to the 10 best airfare sites for 2024. Here they are.

We tested 15 sites on 32 itineraries, trying both last-minute flights (leaving in a week) and APEX fares (booked three months out). We covered major gateways (NYC to LAX, LAX to Hong Kong, NYC to Paris) and secondary ones (Philly to Tampa, Chicago to Rome, Miami to Rio). Finally, we threw in a curve ball (Dallas to Dubai) and included a flight with no North American legs (London to Barcelona) to see how well each handled Europe‘s wilderness of low-cost carriers.

We also required realistic results, so we ignored low fares that would be miserable to fly due to excessively drawn-out layovers, too many stops, or flying long detours just to change planes. Basically, we rejected any itinerary that increased total travel time by more than half. Airlines may think those are viable plans, but we don’t.

Finally, we applied a rigorous, weighted scoring system that rewarded three points to any airfare search site that found the best fares, two points for second-best, and so on. We also penalized sites with negative points if the price proved to be higher than the average result from all the other competitors. Fares within 1% of one another were considered equal.

• An aggregator is only as good as the OTAs it canvasses. There are booking engines that sell tickets directly (Hotwire, Kiwi, CheapOAir, etc.). And then there are aggregators, which are sites that do not book tickets but instead search dozens of other booking engines, airfare sites, and OTAs (online travel agencies) and compile the results in one place; travelers then click through to their selection to make the actual purchase on the third-party site that’s actually selling it.

Some of the booking sites that aggregators show you are safer than others. All quality aggregators will remove unreliable ticket sellers from their searches, but problems can slip through. As you should do when you are referred to any unfamiliar company, always do a quick Better Business Bureau check for an unfamiliar airfare seller and search for complaints and red flags. 

Also, some OTAs are prone to dangling lead prices a few bucks below what they will actually offer once you click through, and some misleadingly categorize “direct” flights—which do actually stop, but don't require you to change planes— as “nonstop.” Because prices can change from moment to moment, even the most honorable aggregator may lead you to a site where you can’t find the airfare you were originally quoted. When that happened to us frequently in our review tests, we let you know.

Aggregator Google may be the Titan of online search, but it fumbles when it comes to airfares. 

Google does have some things going for it. It's fast, refreshing results even as you key in destinations or change filters. It displays average prices on a popup calendar when you’re choosing dates so you can see at a glance the cheapest days to fly. And in the spring of 2024, it was the first to show Southwest Airlines' once-proprietary airfares among its airfare search results.  

So why is the mighty Google at the back of the pack?

Its price results were all over the place. It found the best fare a grand total of one time, flying from Miami to Rio—but four of our top five sites matched it. Then it tanked on rooting out the absolutely lowest fares for two major routes: NYC to Paris and LA to Hong Kong. Its results for pricier direct flights on those itineraries were just average. 

Google frequently found the exact same flight as many other sites did, but at prices just a little bit higher—often just 5% to 15%, but in some cases bafflingly higher, like the last-minute Dallas-Dubai jaunt on Emirates; Google wanted $673 more than our price champion for that flight, and around $250 more than several other sites found. In summary, Google is great for finding available flights, but it's better ignored when it comes time to actually buy them.

After quietly doing away with its Hot Rates (deeply discounted opaque airfares), Hotwire fell out of our ranking after 2017. Now it’s back, but with a huge caveat: Never use Hotwire for last-minute fare. 

Hotwire performed, by far, the worst of any site we tested at last-minute prices, chalking up the highest airfare a whopping six times. The two better-than-average rates it did find were balanced out by a pair of worse-than-average ones on other itineraries. 

Hotwire made up some ground by being flatly average when it came to booking farther in advance. It never found the cheapest overall fare, but it often nabbed lower or even the lowest rates on direct flights.

Beyond that, it failed pretty hard, and we think we know why. Hotwire was the only site that missed big chances to bring no-frills carriers into the mix. On New York–to-Paris, it found a decent $745 fare on Scandinavian, albeit with a stopover—but everyone else found a direct Flybee flight for even less ($666–$687). The best Hotwire could muster for a direct flight: $987 on Norse.

More egregiously, because Hotwire only searches one airport at a time by default, it missed lots of cheaper no-frills flights that were available at nearby alternate airports. Because of that blind spot, Hotwire insisted on a British Airways fare for our London-Barcelona hop that actually cost around four times more than booking a combo of no-frills RyanAir, easyJet, and Vueling from other airports in London—a tactic every other site knew enough to include in results. Hotwire pulled the same face-plant on last-minute fares on the same route; the Air France tickets it offered us cost twice as much as the low-cost carriers in that scenario.

Another mark against Hotwire is its poor set of filters. Along with other problems, it offered no way to indicate a maximum total flight time or layover duration you’d be willing to deal with. That’s pretty much a standard sidebar slider everywhere else. We did like the way its showcases, above the results, how much it would cost to fly on three days to either side of your chosen date.

By the way: If you’re wondering why Expedia (and its corporate siblings, Orbitz and Travelocity) is not on this list, it is because those results are all right here in Hotwire. Expedia now just uses the Hotwire engine for its airfare functions, so if you search Expedia now, you’ve searched Hotwire.

This year,  Hopper , the travel app with an intuitive and colorful interface, tumbled five places from #3. 

When it came to finding cheap airfares, Hopper was a mixed bag. It did well enough on advance-purchase APEX fares, scoring slightly better prices than average about a third of the time. But that decent performance was counterbalanced by a dismal performance in the last-minute category. Hopper got whatever is the opposite of a silver medal, second only to Hotwire in putting up the worst prices the most often. Oddly, the only place where it fared better than average was on our curveball Dallas-to-Dubai itinerary. 

In terms of utility, Hopper still gives its users advice about the best dates to book based on price trends, but that feature used to offer far, far more insight on every flight—it once had bar graphs and historical prices, baggage fees and seat pitches, and the cost of various amenities. Those are all gone, although on the final booking page, Hopper will at least link you to the airline’s own page on baggage regulations and costs (except when that link is broken). 

Some features remain. The calendar for selecting dates is color coded to show the cheapest travel days for two months, so you can easily spot where a bit of flexibility might save you money. In addition to a paltry half-dozen sort-by filters (price, flight duration, number of stops, etc.), Hopper can limit the results to its self-defined categories of Basic (cheapest), Standard (economy fares, but with at least free carry-ons and seat selection), Enhanced (more legroom, priority boarding, free snacks, etc.), plus Premium and Luxury for folks who probably don't need this roundup of the best places to book airfares online. One nice touch: Hopper includes a novel option to limit results to flights with no change fee.

Speaking of fees, Hopper sure does like to pressure you to pay a lot of them for its own add-on services, like freezing a fare for up to 21 days for a sliding scale cost, plus flight protection and cancel-for-any-reason insurances—each of which Hopper, annoyingly, makes you decline on two screens in a row before you can proceed. (On that note, for security’s sake, we always recommend you buy travel insurance from a third party, never from the provider who sells you the trip, in case that provider becomes unreachable.)

We’re not sure what happened to the Czech booking site Kiwi.com to make it tumble from #2 to #7 in less than two years, but the numbers don’t lie. Most of its fares were just a little above or below average, though it did find the cheapest last-minute flights from Miami to Rio and Chicago to Rome. 

What tanked its score was twofold. It performed poorly on advance-purchase direct flights (out of eight itineraries, it scored under average three times and worst of all another three). Kiwi did come up with the cheapest overall fares on NYC to Paris and L.A. to Hong Hong with connecting flights—but then so did most of the sites that outranked it.

Kiwi does have some features to recommend it. It caters to travelers who can be flexible. The default departure date is "anytime," allowing you to see which days are cheapest, and once you do choose a date, pop-up calendars show indicative prices for every day over two months. The results page has a fare grid for three days to either side of your chosen dates, and a trends bar graph showing what prices are likely for a dozen days out (and you can scroll even earlier or later). It’ll even throw in train and bus options, if available, which on our list is unique to Kiwi. It also has the second-best set of filters in the game, rivaled only by our #1. 

But there’s a hitch. We must point out that Kiwi does catch some bad reviews for lackluster customer service when something goes wrong. Frommer’s has received complaints about Kiwi from readers, and few rivals would be jealous of its status with the Better Business Bureau, which fields complaints about its Miami office. Bearing that in mind, some travelers may feel more comfortable using Kiwi to find ideal itineraries but then buy them elsewhere. 

The last time we ran our tests, Priceline lost the precarious grip it had kept on the #10 spot for years and fell off the list entirely. During its time in the wilderness, Priceline evidently cleaned up some of its worst practices. It has vastly improved its filters, provided daily price comparisons on the popup date-picker calendars, and no longer turns up its nose at low-cost carriers. That, plus its solid, if not breathtaking, price performance, has placed Priceline back in good graces and firmly in the middle of the pack.

Overall, last-minute fares were Priceline’s biggest weakness, underperforming even our #7 contender, Kiwi, on that score. It was the advance fares that lifted Priceline to #6. It even pulled off a few nice moves. Priceline alone realized you could shave $40 off a CHI-ROM flight in exchange for a short layover in Istanbul. It was also one of only two tested sites to figure out you could save 35% on a last-minute trip from NYC to L.A. as long as you were willing to endure a brief layover. 

Priceline of course also still offers its original, quirky travel hack: The “Express Deals.” These are opaque fares in which you get to pick your airports and travel dates, but not learn precise flight times, airlines, or stopovers until you pay. Before purchasing, you’ll only know whether it’s a morning, mid-day, or evening takeoff and that there will be “0–1” plane changes. If you are willing to put up with that degree of uncertainty, you can save up to 40%, though the discount is typically more around the 10% mark.

Aggregator Tripadvisor  holds its position in fifth place, proving that while it may no longer be just a platform to vent about travel mishaps, but its airfare results are holding steady. 

Tripadvisor offers the clever cost-saving option to include nearby airports—you never know when Newark-to-Fort Lauderdale will cost half a LaGuardia-to-Miami ticket—and its great set of filters includes one that lets you limit the booking sites it checks to only the names you trust.

What’s holding it back at #5—aside from being annoyingly slow—is that whenever it found the cheapest tickets, or even a better-than-average airfare, so did our top three sites. And those higher-ranked sites pulled off this feat even more often. Tripadvisor also turned in a resoundingly meh performance on last-minute airfares, with overwhelmingly average results nearly across the board. 

The highest ranked OTA on our list, CheapOAir reigns supreme among our sites when it comes to last-minute airfares. How good are the airfares it sells? A few rivals managed to find the best price one or two times, but CheapOAir did it the most.

However, alongside those wins, CheapOAir sometimes posted prices that were worse than average (but not the worst). You could say it’s all or nothing with these folks—even more so when it came to advance-purchase fares, where CheapoAir’s performance was all over the place. Put it this way: If we ignored its stellar performance in the last-minute category and scored things based only on buying tickets a few months out, CheapOAir would rank 7th, not 4th. 

A few other quibbles: CheapOAir won the booby prize for Most Annoying Popups. It was also the slowest of our bunch, and often glitchy. 

On the plus side, the popup date-picker calendars automatically populate with airfare prices for every day, so you can see at a glance which day is cheapest to fly. CheapOAir also had a handy cheat sheet chart at the top of results showing the costs, both non-stop and cheapest, for the best half-dozen airlines. The filters were also pretty good, including options to show alternate dates and nearby airports (both can be great cost-saving techniques).

Always give CheapOAir a look if you are planning to fly in the immediate future—but then also run the numbers at our top three sites, just in case.

Skiplagged , a decade-old upstart, is problematic if you don't know how to use it. It became famous for its "Hidden city" fares, which are tedious to explain but boil down to this: They're itineraries that break the airlines' rules, so they're too risky for us to recommend. They can sometimes cost less, but you don't get to check any luggage. Accepting a hidden city fare can results in  pricey consequences or even lawsuits  if you're caught. But Skiplagged gives you the option to exclude this controversial type of airfare by unchecking the SKIPLAGGING box, which we did for all of our tests. 

Once we omitted hidden city fares, Skiplagged turned out to be strong on direct flights. Our top three sites were pretty much neck-and-neck when it came to pricing, so Skiplagged's ranking came down to other features. Its delightfully simple graphic interface lets you compare, at a glance, the lengths of trips, including layover durations. When you enter a departure airport or city, the arrival is defaulted to "Anywhere;" if you leave it that way, you get a page of photos with prices for a bunch of tempting getaways.

Skiplagged’s popup calendars show how much the flight costs on each day over two months, so you can easily see how tinkering with the departure or return can save you money. (On the two sites that placed higher in our review ranking, this feature only indicates price ranges, not precise fares).

We do have a few criticisms. Sometimes Skiplagged sent us to questionable OTAs to make purchases, and we sometimes found prices were actually higher once we clicked over. Skiplagged also lacks robust filters, doesn't disclose baggage fees, and rounds down all the prices—that last complaint is minor since we're only talking about a few cents, but just feels sneaky.

Skyscanner remains one of the best performers on price and essentially tied with #3, Skiplagged, in the lowest fares on advance purchase tickets. Something else it shares with Skiplagged: mediocre filters. Skyscanner was merely average on last-minute bookings. 

This year, Skyscanner still earned the edge for a few reasons. You can choose "Explore everywhere" as your destination to get a nice grid of destinations at the cheapest cost. Unlike a similar feature at Skiplagged, which is constrained to North America, if you keep scrolling down on Skyscanner, you will get destinations on other continents as well.

One big plus: Skyscanner includes a star rating for all third-party booking sites (and how many users rated it), which helps travelers vet unfamiliar sites.

Skyscanner also offers the option to include nearby airports and to search for destinations in an entire country rather than just a city. While the initial popup calendars for travel dates do not show, as do some others, the precise prices to fly on alternate days, they do indicate each day’s relative cost category via a color code. Then, once you get to the results page, the tiny "Show whole month" link at the top will provide a page with two months’ worth of estimated prices.

Click here for Frommers' Top 10 Ranking of the Best Hotel Booking Sites

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How To Build Travel Meta Search Engine: A Step-By-Step Guide

Are you looking to enter the lucrative travel industry by building a state-of-the-art travel meta search engine or expanding your existing business with a custom travel search engine?

This step-by-step guide is your key to navigating the complex world of online travel search.

From gathering initial requirements to deploying and maintaining your custom platform, we’ll walk you through the essential stages of creating a search engine that stands out in the competitive travel market.

Whether you’re looking to aggregate real-time customer data or create a customized search experience for specific travel needs, this guide provides practical insights and industry best practices to bring your vision to life.

Boost your travel business with the right technology

You will learn:, state of travel industry in 2024, key travel trends and technologies, customer experience with ai and ar, automation and efficiency in travel business, strategic technology investments, what are travel meta search engines, benefits of custom travel search engines, building a custom travel search engine – step-by-step process, importance of working with experts in custom software development projects, most popular travel meta search engines on the market in 2023, building a travel application or extending your development team.

🚀 We're here to assist you in accelerating and scaling your business. Send us your inquiry, and we'll schedule a free estimation call .

A travel meta search engine is a digital platform that aggregates and compares travel-related information, such as flights, hotels, and car rentals, from different websites to help users find the best options based on their preferences and budget.

Imagine you’re planning a vacation and want to find cheap flights, nice hotels, or car rentals. Instead of going to lots of different websites, a travel meta search engine does it for you. It searches many travel sites at once and gives you a list of options with prices. That way, you can easily compare and choose what best suits your budget and needs.

According to a recent Eye for Travel survey, 94 percent of travelers use metasearch engines to compare hotel rates . In fact, 60 percent of independent hoteliers consider metasearch the most effective marketing channel. Meta search advertising has generated $6 billion in economic value over the past decade.

In the rapidly evolving travel industry, not only are meta search engines critical for travel companies, but custom travel search engines also play a pivotal role.

These custom engines significantly improve direct bookings by providing a more tailored and user-friendly experience. They cater to the specific needs and preferences of travelers, providing a range of choices and streamlined booking processes.

[Read also: A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Start an Online Travel Agency (OTA) ]

In the dynamic world of travel and hospitality, custom travel search and meta search engines are game-changing technology.

Let’s take a look at the key benefits these solutions bring to online travel agencies, travelers, and business owners:

Increased Market Exposure

For both travel meta search engines and custom travel search engines, increased market exposure is a key benefit.

Meta search engines increase visibility by aggregating listings from multiple sources and presenting users with a wide range of options in one place. Increased visibility in a consolidated platform can lead to increased brand awareness and customer reach, which are critical for market growth and brand establishment.

Custom travel search engines, on the other hand, provide a specialized platform that highlights specific services or destinations. Both types help travel companies reach a broader audience and make their products and services more visible to potential customers.

Enhanced Customer Acquisition

Travel search engines are powerful tools for attracting new customers.

Travel meta search engines attract users with the promise of comprehensive price comparisons and a wide range of options. By aggregating various travel options, meta search engines serve as an effective customer acquisition tool.

They provide travel companies with access to a large pool of potential customers actively searching for travel services. This direct exposure to a targeted audience looking to make a purchase can lead to higher conversion rates and more bookings, which are essential for business growth and revenue generation.

Custom travel search engines, on the other hand, attract users seeking a more personalized travel planning experience by offering tailored and often niche-specific information. In both cases, these platforms serve as gateways, connecting users directly with travel suppliers.

Competitive Market Insights

These engines provide invaluable market insights and consumer data that enable companies to understand market trends, customer preferences, and competitive dynamics.

Access to this data enables companies to make informed decisions about pricing strategies, service improvements, property management , and marketing tactics. By analyzing trends and customer behavior, companies can adapt and innovate to meet market demands and stay ahead of the competition.

Real-time Pricing and Availability Updates

The travel search engine’s website provides users with real-time pricing and availability information, which is a significant benefit for travel and hospitality companies.

This feature ensures that potential customers are always presented with the most up-to-date information, reducing the risk of overbooking and price discrepancies. It also allows businesses to adjust their offerings to meet market demand, helping to optimize hotel revenue management and improve hotel inventory management .

Direct Booking Opportunities

Some meta search engines offer direct booking functionality, which can be a lucrative feature for travel companies.

This capability allows customers to make reservations directly through the meta search platform, simplifying the booking process and potentially reducing reliance on traditional hotel channel managers , which often carry higher commissions. Direct bookings can improve margins and streamline the reservation process.

Customer Insights and Feedback

Travel meta search engines often feature customer reviews and ratings, providing businesses with valuable feedback on their services.

This customer-generated content can help businesses identify areas for improvement, increase customer satisfaction, and build trust with potential customers. Positive reviews and high ratings can significantly influence consumer decisions, leading to increased bookings and a stronger reputation in the competitive travel marketplace.

[Read also: How to build a search engine: step by step ]

As you can imagine, building a custom travel search engine is no easy feat.

As with any custom software development project or enterprise software application, there are many moving parts. All aspects of such search engines such as database integration, software performance, and intuitive user interface must work together to achieve the desired results.

So how does one go about building a custom travel search engine website?

How do you even begin?

In this section, we will show you exactly what it takes to build a travel search engine from scratch – step by step.

This section is designed to guide you through the journey of developing a custom travel search engine, from initial concept to final launch.

So without further ado, let’s get started!

Step 1: Requirement Analysis

The first step in building a custom search engine is to thoroughly understand and analyze the requirements.

This involves working with stakeholders to gather their needs and expectations. The team defines the scope, goals, and specific functionality that the search engine must provide. It’s also critical to identify the target audience and understand their search habits and preferences, as this will guide the development process to create a product that effectively meets user needs.

During the requirements analysis phase of building a custom search engine, a business owner and the development team might ask themselves the following sample questions:

• What are the specific goals and objectives of this search engine?
• Who is the target audience, and what are their search habits and preferences?
• What unique features should our search engine have to stand out from existing ones?
• What are the technical and resource constraints we need to consider?

These questions are critical for the development team because they establish a fundamental understanding of the project. Clarifying the search engine’s goals and objectives aligns the team’s efforts with the organization’s vision and ensures feature prioritization that meets those goals.

Assessing technical and resource constraints ensures realistic planning and execution, setting clear boundaries for what can be achieved within the project’s scope, budget, and timeline.

Together, these questions guide informed decision-making and focus the development process on creating an effective and user-centric search engine.

Step 2: Planning and Design

Once the requirements are clear, the next step is to plan and design the search engine.

This includes creating a detailed project plan with timelines, resource allocation, and budget considerations. The design phase focuses on the architecture of the search engine, including the choice of data structures, search algorithms, and user interface design. Selecting the appropriate technology stack, including programming languages, frameworks, and databases, is also a critical part of this phase.

In this step, both management and the development team must agree on 5 key aspects of the custom travel search engine:

• Software Planning Phase : This involves creating a comprehensive project plan that outlines timelines, resource allocations, and budgeting. Tools like Gantt charts, project management software (e.g., JIRA, Asana, Trello), and resource management tools are often used here. The plan should include milestones, deliverables, and a clear timeline for each phase of the project.
• Software Design Phase : The technical architecture of the search engine is designed in this stage. This includes deciding on the programming languages, frameworks, and databases to be used. The development team usually draws robust and complicated diagrams of the software’s architecture that can be helpful in visualizing the system’s structure.
• User Interface (UI) Design: The design of the user interface is crucial as it impacts user experience. Wireframing and prototyping tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, or Figma are commonly used to create initial designs and mockups of the search engine’s interface.
• Data Structure and Algorithm Design: Deciding on the data structures and algorithms for data indexing, searching, and ranking is vital. This stage might involve using algorithm simulation tools or flowchart software to map out the logic and flow of these key components.
• Methodology Selection: Choosing the right development methodology is crucial for a smooth and agile development process. Agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban are popular choices as they allow for flexibility, iterative development, and continuous feedback. These methodologies facilitate quick adjustments based on testing results or changing requirements.

The best approach in the planning phase is to ensure thoroughness in planning while maintaining flexibility.

The Agile methodology aligns well with this approach as it supports iterative development, adaptability to changes, and emphasizes continuous stakeholder feedback. Using a combination of robust project management tools, design software, and Agile practices enables a well-structured yet flexible environment for the development of a custom search engine.

This approach helps in managing complexities effectively, ensuring a smooth development process and timely delivery of the project.

Step 3: Data Collection and Processing

The third step in the development of a custom search engine, data collection and processing, is critical because it involves collecting and organizing the data that the search engine will use. This step differs significantly depending on the type of search engine being developed, especially when comparing meta search engines to custom travel search engines.

Data Collection

Meta Search Engines: These engines typically do not host data themselves, but rather aggregate data from various other search engines or databases. They rely heavily on APIs ( Application Programming Interfaces) to pull real-time data from various sources. For example, a travel metasearch engine would use APIs to pull flight, hotel, and car rental information from various travel sites and airlines.

Custom Travel Search Engines: In contrast, these search engines may have their own databases of travel-related information. Data collection may involve web crawlers that scrape data from various travel-related websites, including airlines, hotels, and review sites. They may also integrate APIs for specific data sources where scraping is not feasible or where real-time data is required. Collected data needs to be easily accesses providing fast response time and that’s why custom search engines often leverage IMDG database solutions like Kafka , Oracle Coherence , and Hazelcast .

Data Processing

Indexing: Once the data is collected, it needs to be indexed. This involves organizing the data in a way that makes it easily searchable. The approach to indexing may differ based on the volume and variety of data.

Normalization and Cleaning: This is crucial for ensuring data quality. It involves removing duplicates, correcting errors, and converting data into a consistent format. For travel search engines, this might include standardizing date formats, location names, and pricing information.

Architectural Designs

Web Crawlers: Both custom and meta search engines might use web crawlers, but their application will vary. In a custom travel search engine, crawlers might be more extensive and complex, designed to extract detailed information from various sources. In meta search engines, crawlers might be used more for updating links or integrating new sources.

APIs: APIs are essential for meta search engines as they rely on them to fetch data from external sources. Custom travel search engines also utilize APIs, especially for components like flight status updates, where real-time data is critical.

Database Design

The choice of database (SQL or NoSQL) and its design will depend on the data’s nature. For instance, a relational database might be more suitable for structured data with clear relationships, while NoSQL could be better for more varied or unstructured data.

Step 4: Software Development

In the development phase of a custom search engine, the key to success is the use of an agile software development methodology characterized by short development sprints and close collaboration between the development team and stakeholders.

This approach breaks the project into small, manageable chunks, allowing for steady progress and early identification of problems.

The agile framework ensures regular stakeholder engagement, providing valuable feedback that keeps the project aligned with user needs and business goals . Its inherent flexibility allows the team to adapt to changing needs and priorities – a critical aspect in the dynamic field of software development. What makes Agile particularly effective is its emphasis on continuous testing and quality assurance, ensuring that each release maintains a high standard.

This methodology not only improves team productivity and morale through its collaborative and self-organizing nature but also significantly reduces risk by addressing problems early in the development process.

The result is a development environment that is adept at responding to emerging technologies, changing user preferences, and unforeseen challenges, ensuring that the final search engine product is both functional and closely aligned with market needs.

Step 5: Software Testing

The testing phase in the development of a custom search engine is critical to ensuring the delivery of high-quality travel agency software to the end customer. During this phase, the functionality, performance, security, and user experience of the search engine are rigorously evaluated and validated.

This phase is critical for evaluating how the search engine handles different types of data, user queries, and traffic loads.

By catching bugs and issues early, testing significantly reduces the risk of post-deployment problems, which can be costly and damaging to a company’s reputation.

Testing also contributes to the overall user experience.

A search engine that has undergone extensive testing is likely to provide a smoother, more reliable user experience, which has a direct impact on user satisfaction and engagement.

In the process of testing a custom search engine, several key types of software testing are typically employed:

• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• System Testing
• Performance Testing
• Usability Testing
• Security Testing
• Compatibility Testing

Step 6: Deployment and Maintenance

The deployment and maintenance phase is the final, ongoing stage in the development of a custom search engine, marking the transition from development to real-world application.

This phase is critical to the long-term success and viability of the search engine.

Deployment begins with the initial go-live, which involves meticulously setting up the infrastructure, whether on-premises or cloud-based, to ensure that all components function seamlessly. This phase is followed by rigorous monitoring and performance tuning to optimize efficiency and address any operational issues.

Maintenance is an ongoing cycle that includes regular updates to keep the search engine relevant and efficient, including refining search algorithms and integrating new features. Equally important are security updates to guard against vulnerabilities and protect user data. In addition, the engine’s performance needs to be continually optimized to handle growing numbers of users and added features.

This comprehensive approach to deployment and maintenance ensures that the search engine remains secure, efficient, and responsive to current and future needs, embodying a dynamic cycle of improvement and adaptation.

[Read also: Best travel management solutions ]

When building a custom travel search engine, it’s really important to work with people who have a lot of experience in the field.

Experienced professionals know a lot about both technology and the travel industry, which helps them build a search engine that works well and does what users need it to do. They can spot problems before they become big problems and know how to fix them quickly. This can save you time and money.

These experts also stay on top of new trends and technologies to keep the search engine modern and competitive.

They’re good at keeping the project on track, and making sure it’s completed on time and within budget.

So working with experienced professionals means you’re more likely to end up with a travel search engine that works great and meets everyone’s needs.

That’s why when a major UK booking aggregator approached us about improving their travel search engine , our developers knew what to do.

The client’s system struggled with scalability limitations due to its architecture, which relied on SQL Server machines and was incapable of efficient horizontal scaling.

To address these issues, Stratoflow implemented a solution that included an i n-memory data grid (IMDG) platform for the availability search function , reducing the reliance on the SQL Server database. This new system allowed the necessary data to be stored in memory, supported by a custom data loading mechanism and a message queue pipeline for incremental intraday data updates.

The results were significant: an 80% reduction in infrastructure costs, improved horizontal scalability with 70% efficiency, and the ability to handle 50% more traffic (over 300 million queries per day).

By now we know how to approach building your own custom travel search engine.

Let’s now see what you are up against since there are many search engines in the travel and hospitality industry out there. Here we’ve listed five of the most popular meta search engines on the market:

Google Hotel Ads

Google Hotel Ads is a met search engine that allows users to compare hotel rates and availability directly in Google search results and on Google Maps.

When a user searches for hotels on Google, Hotel Ads displays a variety of options from different booking engines , allowing the user to find the best deal. It also integrates with Google’s booking system, offering the convenience of booking directly through Google.

Kayak is a travel search engine that aggregates information from multiple online travel agencies and hotel websites, allowing users to find and compare prices for flights, hotels, car rentals and more.

It provides a comprehensive search experience and offers tools such as price forecasting, filters, and maps to help travelers make informed decisions. Kayak also includes user reviews and ratings to help users choose the best travel options.

[Read also: 11 Travel Technology Trends Emerging in the Tourism Industry in 2023 ]

Tripadvisor

TripAdvisor is a travel platform that offers a wide range of user-generated content, including reviews, ratings and photos of hotels, restaurants, attractions and more.

It provides a comprehensive price comparison across multiple booking engines , allowing users to find the best deals on accommodations and flights.

TripAdvisor also offers a wealth of information through its community, including travel forums and advice, to enhance the travel planning experience.

Trivago is a hotel search engine that aggregates and compares room rates from multiple booking sites, allowing users to find the best deals on accommodations.

It offers a user-friendly interface with filters and maps that make it easy to search for hotels based on location, price, amenities, and more.

Skyscanner , is a global travel search site that provides a comprehensive comparison of flight prices from different airlines and travel agents.

It also offers options for finding and booking hotels and car rentals. Skyscanner’s tools, such as price alerts and flexible date search, help travelers find the best deals and travel options.

[Read also: Digital Transformation in the Travel and Tourism Industry ]

In conclusion, building a travel meta search engine is a strategic endeavor that can significantly enhance your presence in the travel industry.

By following the step-by-step process outlined in this article, you can navigate the complexities of this process and develop a tool that not only meets the dynamic needs of travelers, but also stands out in the competitive travel marketplace.

With the right approach, your travel search engine can become a central resource for users and a valuable asset in your business portfolio.

Related Posts

• How to Build a Search Engine: Step by Step Guide
• How to Choose the Best Travel Agency Software to Maximize Your Revenue
• What Are Travel Meta Search Engines?
• Hotel Metasearch Engines: Key Examples And Custom Solutions
• Meta Search Engine: Ultimate 2024 Guide

We are Stratoflow, a custom software development company . We firmly believe that software craftsmanship, collaboration and effective communication is key in delivering complex software projects. This allows us to build advanced high-performance Java applications capable of processing vast amounts of data in a short time. We also provide our clients with an option to outsource and hire Java developers to extend their teams with experienced professionals. As a result, our Java software development services contribute to our clients’ business growth. We specialize in travel software , ecommerce software , and fintech software development. In addition, we are taking low-code to a new level with our Open-Source Low-Code Platform .

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Michał Głomba

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What is a travel metasearch engine, and how can travel brands benefit from it? 

Travel brands are always on the hunt for new ways to attract travelers and direct bookings. They use display ads, search engine ads, native videos, and social media to drive engagement. An ideal marketing strategy would be to use a good mix of all these marketing channels. However, in today’s travel marketing scene, travel metasearch is emerging as a big platform to market. Metasearch advertising generated an economic value worth 6 billion USD in the last decade. As many as 60% of independent hoteliers consider metasearch the most effective marketing channel. 

Here in this article, we dissect travel metasearch for you, what it is, how your brand can benefit from it, and conclude by listing major engines.  

What is a travel metasearch engine?  

For travelers, metasearch is a platform where they can get an aggregated list of available rooms and their respective rates, saving them the trouble of visiting every travel website individually and checking for rates.  

Travel businesses see metasearch as a platform to market their brands and bring direct or sales-qualified leads to their website. Therefore, it also works as an acquisition channel. But please note metasearch is not a booking engine. It is a platform that pulls room rate and availability data from multiple sources on the internet. The bidding metasearch engine works on conventional CPC (Cost per click). You or your marketing representative will bid for your brand, and every redirection to your website will have a cost similar to how Google AdWords works. 

How travel brands can benefit from metasearch engines   

Metasearch can help travel brands in many ways. The brand can lift the conversion numbers without doing anything disruptive. Triptease report says “If your metasearch rates are accurate, your conversion rates can increase up to 300%”. It was about the ultimate outcome, but how do you activate it? As someone who’s just starting to use metasearch, what’s the ideal strategy to go ahead with? We are breaking it down for you in a three-tier approach, which will help you effectively get started with travel metasearch. 

• Set the goals of the campaign  

Implementation of metasearch certainly boosts direct booking numbers, yet to make it a success, you have to set realistic expectations and plan your future budgets accordingly. For instance, if you are 10% direct booking, with metasearch, you can aim around 13-14%, take 5-7x return on ad spend for metasearch. Then, start the campaign. Once your campaign matures, you will have a clearer picture of how to adjust the budget. 

• Maintain rate parity   

Travel metasearch engines optimize the rate to the user’s location and currency. Therefore, the odds of rate differentiation go higher, and if you are not keeping rate parity, you are giving your competition free winning edges. That’s why you must maintain rate parity across your distribution channels. 

• Place rates strategically   

Placements of rates can have significant impacts on conversion. Only the advertisement competitive rates on metasearch will not be enough. When potential travelers land on your page, you must ensure that the first rate they see matches your advertised rate. The pricing technique is also famous with the name BAR (Best available rate) – always show BAR first. 

What are major travel metasearch engines, and who owns them?  

If we talk in terms of crude numbers, there are five major metasearch engines, Google Hotel ads planner, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner, kayak, and Trivago. Let’s look at them objectively one at a time. 

• Google Hotels  

Google Hotels is arguably the market leader. The metasearch engine leverages google maps and Gmail to offer personalized recommendations to travelers. Google Hotels delivers travelers price tracking and deals directly to their inboxes. 

• TripAdvisor  

TripAdvisor is also a well-known travel metasearch engine. You should have your TripAdvisor account up and running as soon as your hotel starts accepting bookings. The existence of your hotel brand on Tripadvisor gives you wider reach and acceptability. TripAdvisor Metasearch offers travelers direct booking and allows comparison shopping.  

• Skyscanner   

Skyscanner is both a metasearch engine and travel agency. The booking tool is quite popular among gen-Z and millennials. Skyscanner offers its users’ destination research and booking travel products like flights, hotels, and cabs. 

• Kayak  

Kayak is also both an online travel agency (OTA) and a metasearch engine. Kayak is a part Booking.com group, the group wholly owns the platform. Therefore, it’s not easy for other hotels to get ad placement on this metasearch engine. Though, hotels can get into partnerships with airlines and place packaged offerings on Kayak to derive the most value out of the metasearch engine. 

• Trivago  

Trivago is a proper metasearch engine that fetches room rates and availability from different booking sites and shows it in one place. It has a revenue model like Google Hotels, booking sites have to pay a fee every time a potential customer clicks on a specific offering.  

Recommended: What Is Hotel Upsell Software? And How To Choose One?

Ownership of metasearch engines matters a lot. Apart from Google Hotel and Tripadvisor the other three engines, Skyscanner, Trivago, and Kayak, are retailer-owned, so they send the major share of direct traffic to their own website. At the same time, media-owned travel meta-search engines are democratic and run transparent bidding systems. 

Metasearch is a powerful medium to get quality direct traffic to your travel website. Ideally, go with media owned metasearch engine and use the implementation strategy we mentioned earlier in this article. You will be all set to benefit from travel metasearch engines. 

About Vervotech:

Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With one of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: [email protected]

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Subcontracting. Referral Partner shall not subcontract any of its obligations under this Agreement.

Competing Products and Business Practices. During the term of this Agreement, Referral Partner shall promptly inform Company of Referral Partner promotion, marketing, or distribution of any product or service offering similar functionality to Services. Referral Partner (a) shall conduct its business under this Agreement in a manner that reflects favorably upon Company, Services, and Company's goodwill and reputation, (b) shall not engage in illegal, deceptive, misleading, or unethical trade practices, and (c) shall not, and shall not permit any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, or any of its or their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, independent contractors, representatives, or agents to, promise, authorize, or make any payment, or otherwise contribute any item of value, directly or indirectly, to any third party and in each case, in violation of the applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law.

Data Protection and Privacy. In the performance of the services set forth herein Referral Partner may receive or have access to personal data of the Company and its personnel. Referral Partner agrees to comply with the terms set forth in this Agreement, in its collection, receipt, transmission, storage, disposal, use and disclosure of such personal data. Referral Partner agrees to ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including but not limited to laws, rules and regulations related to personal data protection and data privacy. To the extent the Referral Partner will share any personal data with the Company, the Referral Partner shall be responsible for obtaining informed consent from such individuals for the processing of their personal data. The Referral Partner agrees to take all necessary steps to ensure compliance, including but not limited to executing appropriate contractual agreements as may be necessary as per applicable laws.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

Representations and Warranties. Referral Partner represents and warrants that (a) it has the full corporate right, power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to perform its obligations hereunder, (b) the execution of this Agreement and the performance of its obligations hereunder does not and will not conflict with or result in a breach (including with the passage of time) of any other agreement to which it is a party, and (c) this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by such Party and constitutes the valid and binding agreement of such Party, enforceable against such Party in accordance with its terms. Referral Partner further represents and warrants that it shall comply with all applicable data privacy laws while performing its obligations under the Agreement, and that it has all rights necessary to provide the Referral Form to Company for Company’s use pursuant to this Agreement. Referral Partner specifically represents and warrants that it has procured from all data subjects whose personal information it is disclosing to Company an explicit consent to disclose their personal information to Company for use in contacting them for marketing and/or other business purposes.

GENERAL DISCLAIMERS- EACH OF COMPANY AND REFERRAL PARTNER ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT, IN ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN, IT HAS NOT RELIED UPON ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND THAT NEITHER PARTY HAS MADE ANY REPRESENTATIONS, ASSURANCES, OR PROMISES THAT COMPANY WILL RECEIVE ANY NEW REFERRED CUSTOMERS OR NEW BUSINESS OR THAT REFERRAL PARTNER WILL RECEIVE ANY REFERRAL FEES AS A RESULT OF THIS AGREEMENT. COMPANY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SERVICES, WHICH ARE PROVIDED AS-IS, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, ORAL OR IN WRITING, ARISING UNDER ANY LAWS, INCLUDING WITH RESPECT TO ERROR-FREE OPERATION, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

In consideration of the Services provided by the Referral Partner in accordance with the Agreement, Company will pay to the Referral Partner as per the Referral Fee specified below, which shall be Company’ s sole payment obligation.

Referral Fee: For any invoices issued pursuant to Qualified Sales received by Company from customer during the referral period, Company shall pay Referral Partner a Referral Fee as per the % (mentioned on the referral Page) of the amount actually collected by Company from customer as a one-time Referral Fee.

Company shall make payment of undisputed invoice raised by Referral Partner within Sixty (60) days of the date of Company' invoice to customer for the Qualified Sales.

Company shall not pay or reimburse Referral Partner for any expenses related to this Agreement, unless expressly agreed to by Company in writing, before such expenses were incurred.

Limitation on Referral Fee:

Company will not pay more than one (1) Referral Fee in connection with any given Qualified Sales.

Referral Partner will receive the Referral Fee only as one-time fee.

Referral Partner will not be entitled to receive any Referral Fees for any subsequent services which are beyond the first transaction.

A renewal of a Qualified Sale shall not be considered a new Qualifying Transaction and shall not entitle Referral Partner to any Referral Fee.

Referral Fee shall be paid only when the actual invoicing amount have been collected from Qualified Sales. Referral Partner shall not be entitled to receive payment of Referral Fees for Qualifying Transactions remaining unpaid.

LICENSES AND OWNERSHIP

Company Marks. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and solely for the purposes hereof, Company grants to Referral Partner a non-transferable, non-exclusive license, without right of sublicense, to use the Company trademarks, service marks, and logos as approved by Company (the “Company Marks”) to perform its obligations set forth in this Agreement. The use of all Company Marks, including placement and sizing, shall be subject to Company’s then-current trademark use guidelines, if any, provided by the Company. If the Company Marks become, or in Company’s opinion are likely to become, the subject of an infringement claim, Company may at its option modify or replace the Company Marks and require Referral Partner to cease use of the allegedly infringing Company Marks. Referral Partner shall promptly provide Company with samples of all materials that use the Company Marks for Company’s quality control purposes. If, in Company’s discretion, the Referral Partner’s use of the Company Marks does not meet Company’s then-current trademark usage policy, Company may, at its option, require Referral Partner to revise such material and re-submit it under this Section prior to display, or release of further materials bearing or containing such Company Marks. Except for the right to use the Company Marks set forth above, nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed to grant to Referral Partner any right, title or interest in or to the Company Marks, and all right, title, and interest in and to the Company Marks shall be retained by Company. Referral Partner acknowledges that Company asserts its exclusive ownership of the Company Marks and the renown of the Company Marks worldwide. Referral Partner shall not take any action inconsistent with such ownership and further agrees to take all actions that Company reasonably requests to establish and preserve its exclusive rights in and to the Company Marks. Referral Partner shall not adopt, use, or attempt to register any trademarks or trade names that are confusingly similar to the Company Marks or in such a way as to create combination marks with the Company Marks.

Company Materials. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and solely for the purposes hereof, Company grants to Referral Partner a non-transferable, non-exclusive license, without right of sublicense, to distribute the Company Materials exactly as provided to Referral Partner by Company to perform Referral Partner’s obligations under this Agreement.

Ownership. As between Referral Partner and Company, Company retains all right, title, and interest to (a) the Company Marks, (b) the Services, any of its products, material or pre-existing intellectual property rights (c) the high-level description of the Company Products and the Company Materials, and (d) all Intellectual Property Rights related to any of the foregoing. There are no implied licenses under this Agreement.

No Intellectual Property Rights. Parties agree that no intellectual property rights are conceived or developed under this Agreement. If any intellectual property rights are conceived or developed, the intellectual property rights will vest with Company, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In connection with this Agreement, “Confidential Information” means all data and information of a confidential nature of Company disclosed by Company to the Referral Partner under this Agreement, as well as information that Referral Partner knows or reasonably should know that the Company regards as confidential, including business practices, software, technical information, future product/services plans, programming/design techniques or plans, know-how, trade secrets, prospects, customers, end users suppliers, development plans or projects, and services. Confidential Information may be communicated orally, in writing, or in any other recorded or tangible form.

Confidentiality. Referral Partner shall maintain in confidence all Confidential Information disclosed to it by the Company. Referral Partner shall not use for any purpose outside the scope of this Agreement, or disclose to any third party such Confidential Information except as expressly authorized by this Agreement. To the extent that disclosure is authorized by this Agreement, the Referral Partner shall obtain prior agreement from its employees, contractors, agents, and consultants to whom disclosure is to be made to hold in confidence and not make use of such information for any purpose other than those permitted by this Agreement. Referral Partner shall use at least the same standard of care as it uses to protect its own most confidential information (and in no event less than reasonable care) to ensure that such employees, contractors, agents, and consultants do not disclose or make any unauthorized use of such Confidential Information. Referral Partner shall promptly notify the other upon discovery of any unauthorized use or disclosure of the Confidential Information. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement to the contrary, the obligations set forth in this section 7 shall survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement for perpetuity.

Exceptions. The obligations of confidentiality contained in this section 7 shall not apply to the extent that it can be established by the Referral Partner by competent proof that such Confidential Information:

was already known to the Referral Partner, other than under an obligation of confidentiality, at the time of disclosure by the Company;

was generally available to the public or was otherwise part of the public domain at the time of its disclosure to the Referral Partner;

became generally available to the public or otherwise became part of the public domain after its disclosure, other than through any act or omission of the Referral Partner in breach of this Agreement; or

was disclosed to the receiving Party, other than under an obligation of confidentiality, by a third party who had no obligation not to disclose such information to others.

Authorized Disclosure. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the Referral Partner may disclose Confidential Information (a) to the extent required by law or any governmental authority, or (b) on a “need to know” basis under an obligation of confidentiality to its legal counsel or accountants, provided, that such Referral Partner shall to the extent practicable (and except to the extent it would jeopardize the filing or prosecution of letters patent) use commercially reasonable efforts to assist the Company in securing confidential treatment of such information required to be disclosed. Prior to disclosing any Confidential Information under this section 7 Referral Partner shall take reasonable steps to give the Company sufficient notice of the disclosure request for the Company to contest the disclosure request.

Referral Partner shall indemnify, defend, and hold Company harmless from and against any and all liabilities, losses, damages, costs, fees, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from or arising out of any Claims based on allegations that (a) Referral Partner breached any obligations including with limitation Confidential Information, representation or warranty contained herein, or has breached any applicable laws, rules and regulations, or (b) Referral Partner made a representation or warranty regarding Company or the Services that is inconsistent with the written high-level description of Services provided to Referral Partner by Company, or is otherwise unauthorized by Company.

Indemnification Procedure. An indemnifying party hereunder shall be liable for any costs and damages to third parties incurred by the other party which are attributable to any such Claims, provided that such other party (i) notifies the indemnifying party promptly in writing of the claim, (ii) gives the indemnifying party the sole authority to defend, compromise or settle the claim, with prior approval of the Company and (iii) provides all available information, assistance, and authority at the indemnifying party’s reasonable request and at the indemnifying party’s reasonable expense to enable the indemnifying party to defend, compromise, or settle such claim. Any indemnifying party hereunder shall diligently pursue any defense required to be rendered hereunder, shall keep the indemnified party informed of all significant developments in any action defended by the indemnified party, and shall not enter into any settlement affecting the indemnified party’s interests without the prior consent of the indemnified party.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

COMPANY SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO REFERRAL PARTNER OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT DAMAGES INCLUDING TOWARDS COSTS OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS, LOST PROFITS OR ANY OTHER SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED, AND WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCTS LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF COMPANY FOR DIRECT DAMAGES FOR ANY REASON SHALL BE LIMITED TO AMOUNTS PAID BY COMPANY IN RESPECT OF THE QUALIFYING SALE . THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY.

NON-SOLICITATION OF PERSONNEL

The Referral Partner shall not engage or hire as an employee or engage as independent contractor, Company’ s employees or independent contractors during the term of this Agreement and for a period of one (1) year following expiration or termination of this Agreement except as may be mutually agreed in writing.

TERM AND TERMINATION:

Term. The term of this Agreement shall be one (1) year from the Effective Date unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of this Section. This Agreement shall renew automatically for additional one-year terms unless one Party provides the other written notice no later than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the then-current term of the Agreement of its intention to allow the Agreement to expire at the end of such term.

Termination for Breach. Either Party may terminate this Agreement for cause resulting from the material breach of this Agreement by the other Party by providing the breaching party written notice of such material breach and the intention to terminate for cause. The Party receiving such notice shall have thirty (30) days to cure such material breach. If at the end of such thirty (30) day period, the breach has not been cured to the reasonable satisfaction of the Party seeking to terminate the Agreement, the Agreement shall terminate.

Termination for Convenience. Either Party may terminate this Agreement for convenience upon ninety (90) days’ written notice.

Effect of Termination; Duties of the Parties Upon Termination. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, Referral Partner shall (a) refrain thereafter from representing itself as a promoter or marketer of Company Products, or as a referral partner of Company, (b) immediately cease all use of any Company Marks, and (c) return to Company the Company materials and Confidential Information and all tangible items in Referral Partner’s possession or under its control containing Confidential Information of Company. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, Company shall return to Referral Partner all tangible items in Company’s possession or under its control containing Referral Partner’s Confidential Information. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, all licenses granted under this Agreement shall terminate.

Survival. Any clauses which by their very nature survive termination of the Agreement, will survive.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Construction. The Parties have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. In the event an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the Parties and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any Party by virtue of the authorship of any of the provisions of this Agreement. As used in this Agreement, the singular shall include the plural and vice versa, and the terms “include” and “including” shall be deemed to be immediately followed by the phrase “without limitation.” The captions and headings in this Agreement are inserted for convenience and reference only and in no way define or limit the scope or content of this Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation of its provisions.

Governing Law and Dispute Resolution: This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the India, without reference to its conflict-of-laws principles. The Parties shall resolve any difference or dispute arises out of this Agreement by way of negotiations. If such negotiation process fails, then all disputes arising from or related to this Agreement shall be resolved before exclusive jurisdiction of courts in Pune, India.

NOTICES: All notices including hereunder shall be given in writing by hand delivery, courier service or email at the addresses set forth below:

If to Company

If to REFERRAL PARTNER

Attention: Sanjay Ghare

Email: [email protected]

Address: 3rd Floor, Amar Tech Centre, Sakore Nagar, Viman Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014

Non-Waiver: A party's failure or delay in enforcing any provision of the Agreement will not be deemed a waiver of that party's rights with respect to that provision or any other provision of the Agreement. A party's waiver of any of its rights under the Agreement is not a waiver of any of its other rights with respect to a prior, contemporaneous or future occurrence, whether similar in nature or not.

Captions: The captions in the Agreement are not part of the Agreement, but are for the convenience of the parties. References to Sections are to sections of this Agreement.

Counterparts. Any documents signed in connection with the Agreement may be signed in multiple counterparts, which taken together will constitute one original.

Severability: In the event any term of the Agreement is held unenforceable by a court having jurisdiction, the remaining portion of the Agreement will remain in full force and effect, provided that the Agreement without the unenforceable provision(s) is consistent with the material economic incentives of the parties leading to the Agreement.

Relationship between the Parties. The relationship of Referral Partner and Company is that of independent contractors. Regardless of the use of the word "partner" in the title of this Agreement, neither Party is, nor shall be deemed to be, a partner, joint venturer, agent, or legal representative of the other Party for any purpose. Neither Party shall be entitled to enter into any contracts in the name of or on behalf of the other Party, and neither Party shall be entitled to pledge the credit of the other Party in any way or hold itself out as having authority to do so. No Party shall incur any debts or make any commitments for the other, except to the extent, if at all, explicitly provided herein.

Assignment. Referral Partner shall not assign or transfer this Agreement, in whole or in part, whether by operation of law or otherwise, or delegate any of its obligations hereunder, without the express written consent of Company. Subject to the foregoing, this Agreement shall be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Parties. Any assignment in violation of the foregoing shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement and shall be null and void.

Force Majeure. Neither Party shall be liable for any failure or delay in fulfilling the terms of this Agreement due to fire, strike, war, civil unrest, terrorist action, government regulations, acts of nature or other causes which are unavoidable and beyond the reasonable control of the Party claiming force majeure.

Entire Agreement. The Agreement constitutes and contains the complete, final and exclusive understanding and agreement of the Parties and cancels and supersedes any and all prior negotiations, correspondence, understandings, and agreements, whether oral or written, between the Parties respecting the subject matter thereof. Parties agree that, their engagement with each other is on non-exclusive basis and either Party is free to appoint any third party for performance of their respective obligations.

Electronic Record. This Agreement is an electronic record in the form of an electronic contract formed under Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules made thereunder and the amended provisions pertaining to electronic documents / records in various statutes as amended by the Information Technology Act, 2000. This Agreement does not require any physical, electronic or digital signature. This Agreement constitutes a legally binding document between the Subscriber and the Company.

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Referer's Information:

Referral information:, referral details:.

Pravin Mahadik

Chief Financial Officer

Pravin Bandu Mahadik is an ICMAI fellow and accomplished Cost and Management Accountant (CMA) with over a decade of experience in accounts and finance.

As a leader, Pravin has worked across various financial domains, including commercial operations, accounts and finance, auditing, taxation, MIS, transfer pricing, and export management.

He consistently introduces and implements systems to fortify financial control and improve Vervotech’s net organizational efficiency.

Marvel Puri

Chief Revenue Officer

As chief revenue officer (CRO), Marvel is responsible for every process at Vervotech that generates revenue. He has been instrumental in connecting different revenue-related functions, from sales, customer success, pricing, and revenue operations. His focus-driven approach to improving sales performance, and creating great product and pricing strategy, and delivering customer satisfaction has helped Vervotech to acquire 100 clients within a short stint of 2 years.    

With the experience of over 15+ years in sales and business development at SaaS-based organizations, Marvel has flourished throughout his career by creating and leading experienced and diverse teams. To Marvel, growth has not only been to hit quotas but is broad and holistic: open new paths to revenue and build the processes to get there.

Ganesh Pawade

Ganesh is a Problem Solver and a Thought Leader. Throughout his 13 yrs professional journey, he helped businesses to identify their platform areas, define solutions and architecture, and make a more technically-informed decision on their current and future business as well as the technology roadmap.

His passion for good code often results in him being engaged in animated discussions with his team of architects and engineers, pushing them to think beyond what is possible. His specialties include Solution Architecture, Full stack specialist, AWS, Azure and Google cloud.

Dharmendra Ladi

Dharmendra Ladi has been instrumental in positioning Vervotech as the “World’s Best Mapping Provider” and is focused on transforming how the industry presents accommodation data to its customers. With his 14+ years of experience in travel and innovative technologies, he is the principal architect behind designing Vervotech’s AI-driven products that are today helping its clients worldwide do business seamlessly.    

He leads new product development. Under his leadership, Vervotech has is credited with going from 0 to 100 customers within 2 years of business establishment. Dharmendra is also an inspiring thought leader, and regularly speaks at large scale events, webinars and has been interviewed by multiple media houses.

Sanjay Ghare

CEO & MD

Sanjay brings over 16+ years of entrepreneurial, general management, and senior executive experience with proven expertise in business development, corporate strategy, and product & program management. Sanjay, being an Industry veteran, and an influencer, leads and drives Vervotech’s vision of “Organizing World’s Accommodation Data.” Before he founded Vervotech, he was a VP of Tavisca Solutions, where he took the started SaaS division and grown with customers in  more than 15 countries.    

With his business acumen, Sanjay is on the trajectory of revolutionizing the accommodation data segment. He’s also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and often puts actionable growth strategies into perspective in his Forbes column.       

Anurag Mittal

Chief Marketing Officer

Anurag Mittal is a seasoned technology executive who has led multiple marketing teams at SaaS-based organizations. At Vervotech, Anurag is responsible for marketing and strategy formulation and setting up a growth-oriented marketing & prospecting team. Anurag comes with an experience working with Organizations like Deloitte and ACCELQ, where he led the marketing initiatives for their SaaS product lines and has worn many hats including devising marketing strategies for business growth, managing GTM with alliances and partners, conceptualizing and orchestrating marketing campaigns, end-to-end event management, and demand generation activities to deliver a qualified sales pipeline.    

He has been strategic face for the launch of Vervotech’s website and digital presence and have led several winning campaigns that has led to successful brand development and customer acquisition.    

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Rohit Shukla

Chief Product Officer

As Vervotech’s Chief Product Officer, Rohit is responsible for the product strategy and teams working to advance Vevotech’s position as a leading accommodation data company for OTAs, bed banks, DMCs, and Tour operators.

Rohit has been in the technology space for the last 15+ years, working with companies at different stages of growth within Travel, E-commerce, and FinTech Industries. In his previous roles, he drove product strategies for start-ups and SMEs and was instrumental in building platforms and product lines that generated $900 million in revenues and half a million paid customers. The products included flights, hotels, car rentals, activities & vacation packages.

Archana Garg

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Archana has more than 15 years of experience in finance and operations management. Archana is proven leader in building and scaling companies as a result of her focus on financial strategy and operational excellence. She is motivated by understanding the customers she serves, and providing value at all levels of a business while building strong relationships with her colleagues.

She is a Chartered Accountant and is responsible for driving the Vervotech’s overall financial strategy, including the growth plans. Her experience navigating high growth companies, developing new business strategies and overall operational mindset delivers meaningful results for growth stage of Vervotech.

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How the strong demand for vacation travel, also makes the metasearch engines boom again. An overview for the travel industry.

Valentina Piol

VP Digital Marketing Artefact Germany

The number of flights per year increased steadily in the years leading up to the pandemic – there were just under 47 million flights in global aviation in 2019. In 2020, however, the number of global flights dropped dramatically to around 22 million due to the impact of the pandemic. By 2022, however, we see the trend reversing again and the number of global flights increasing again, but it is still below pre-pandemic levels at around 32 million. We can look forward to seeing what the values will be for 2023.

This year’s early booking and now last minute season has also come to an end and major airlines have drawn their first conclusions of the 2023 travel year. Lufthansa, for example, announced that it expects a record year in 2023, thanks to increased profits per passenger due to higher ticket costs. Already in April, the portal Idealo had published a price comparison analysis where it was noted that the airfares to numerous popular destinations on the Mediterranean have increased by an average of 32 percent compared to the previous year – and this regardless of the travel time.

Despite the significant slump in recent years, most of the major price comparison websites and online travel agencies (OTAs) have survived these difficult times and have even expanded or are expanding their portfolios. Booking.com should be mentioned here, for example, whose competencies have included flight search since 2022. It is therefore worth taking a look at the exciting market of airfare comparison websites, which is certainly all the more popular with travelers due to the sharp rise in prices in some cases. Which players are there in the market? What is their relevance to the markets in which they´re active as a travel advertiser? How do such comparison sites work, what should you consider for a cooperation?

What are metasearch engines in the travel sector?

Everyone who flies frequently knows them: price comparison sites and online travel agencies to find the cheapest flight. Whether it is a vacation or a business trip, airline passengers want to find and book the best flight for them at the lowest price. Whether it is a price comparison site (metasearch engine) or an OTA (online travel agency), the difference is usually whether only the airfares are displayed and you are redirected to the actual airline site to complete the booking, or whether you complete the booking directly with the online agency and thus do not book the ticket directly with the operating airline. Since the air transport sector is a polypole, i.e. a market driven by competition with many players, it quickly becomes unclear for the individual user which airline even operates on the desired route, let alone which airline offers the best deal.

In order to create the best possible overview, there are price comparison sites (metasearch engines, or MSEs for short). An MSE is not necessarily a pure flight comparison site, but can also be a generic price comparison site in general. The overarching goal of all comparison sites, i.e. all MSEs, is thus to filter out the desired product for the user at the best possible price-performance ratio from the vast number of options.

Prominent examples of such comparison sites in the travel segment are Skyscanner, Kayak, Momondo, Swoodoo and Idealo. Among other things, they all share the aforementioned overarching goal of finding the best possible price-performance ratio for the desired product, in our case airline tickets, and then forwarding the user to the page of the selected airline to ultimately book the ticket there. But they differ in scope and orientation. While Swoodoo, for example, is very focused on flights, Idealo also offers a flight fare comparison, but has a much more generic focus, since in addition to flights and hotels, the shopping area is also a strong focus. Thus, another unifying element is that all the sites mentioned have a flight search engine, but with different focuses or prioritizations.

How has the market evolved around airfare comparison sites?

Over the last few years, the market has consolidated more and more, resulting in the emergence of large groups from individual independent search engines or in the acquisition of holdings. It is not always easy to keep an overview. Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline Group) has bought up many competitors in recent years and now has a large number of search and booking platforms, of which the best known are probably booking.com (OTA) and Kayak (MSE). The Kayak Group, in turn, also includes well-known platforms such as Momondo, Swoodoo and Cheapflights.

Further acquisitions and consolidations also took place from the Asian market. In addition to Trip.com and ctrip.com (themselves an OTA), trip.com Group Limited, formerly Ctrip.com International, also operates one of the most internationally successful flight searches through the acquisition of Skyscanner, which cost around GBP 1.4 billion in 2016.

It can be seen that especially large MSE fall under one holding and thus a large oligopoly has emerged in the market in the background. Apart from the large holdings in the market, Google has also made it much more challenging over the last few years with the integration of flight search for smaller metasearchers to exist in this market at all with just a pure flight search.

The following matrix is intended to provide an overview of the current status quo in the airfare MSE market. On the one hand, it shows which market participants offer a pure flight search or a general price comparison for different industries. In addition, the degree of internationalization is also shown. Is the provider nationally limited or does it possibly even operate globally? In addition, traffic data from Similarweb will also be used to illustrate relevance.

Source: Own representation. Traffic values are based on Similarweb.com values (as of August 2023).

What is the mode of operation of such MSEs?

Basically, an MSE requires all data that is relevant for a flight booking. This includes the available routes of the individual airlines, current ticket prices in real time, and availability in the booking classes. This data must be made available accordingly. Airlines usually offer so-called data APIs for this purpose.

As soon as a user searches in the flight search for a certain route at a certain time, the MSE sends data requests to all APIs to which it has a connection. These APIs contain all flights with the corresponding information. They use the information from the request to search for all matching flights and send this information back to the MSE in a response.

Source: Own representation

The comparison site must then decode the information received and present it clearly so that a user can obtain an uncomplicated overview of prices, availability, flight times and connections for the flight route he or she is requesting (combination of origin, i.e. departure airport, and destination, i.e. destination airport). Since this process usually involves querying not just one API, but a large number of them, it usually takes a few seconds before the user has a complete list of all flights.

Challenges and solutions for the travel industry

Since there are now a large number of comparison sites, it can sometimes be challenging for an airline to muster the necessary resources to give every MSE access to its own API.

Artefact, which has been cooperating closely with the Lufthansa Group for many years and also manages large parts of the metasearch channel for them, also enables smaller MSEs to make their requests bundled via their own intermediate API. Thus, it was no longer necessary for the advertiser to provide each individual MSE with access to its own API. Instead, this is bundled via Artifact’s intermediate solution, which thus acts as a so-called proxy.

In this context, Artefact also filters out those MSE requests that do not result in a response from the API (e.g. because certain routes are not provided for in the flight plan, do not make sense or have been requested several times within a very short time, etc.), thus reducing the volume of requests to the airline’s API and, under certain circumstances, can also deliver faster responses to the MSEs. Even if the advertiser does not have an API, but only a product data feed (CSV, XML), Artefact’s solution can act as an API to the MSEs and thus enable and simplify collaboration.

In addition, Artefact is available to assist each individual metasearcher with any questions regarding the affiliate and metasearch program, thus acting as the link between the advertiser and the individual MSEs to provide the best possible and most efficient service for all parties.

Do you operate a flight search and would like to discuss the possibility of cooperation with us and our travel customers? Or are you an advertiser in the travel segment and need support in working with a MSE? Then please feel free to contact us:

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 @ Artefact  2024

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Top Metasearch Websites to Sell and Increase Occupancy

If you’re in the hospitality industry, chances are high that you’re familiar with metasearch engines. Although you may not initially recognize them by their technical name, these platforms are a huge part of the way customers research rates and book rooms.

Otherwise known as hotel search engines or hotel aggregators, these websites allow travelers to search for hospitality options based on dates and cities of travel. These metasearch channels return results containing rates, reviews, and other information.

However, when you’re looking for information based on the best hotel website search engines, it’s important not to get these platforms confused with online travel agencies (OTAs). While they may be similar, hotel metasearch platforms and OTAs have completely different business models.

Metasearch Engines Compared to OTAs

OTAs provide additional options for hotels looking to sell unoccupied rooms. Additionally, they allow hotels to reach markets and demographics they may not have otherwise connected with.

Each OTA operates as a separate business and displays information regarding your hotel when travelers search in specific cities. Depending on the OTA, the rates may vary but normally allow customers to book discounted rooms.

How do metasearch engines work? A metasearch engine compiles all of the rates for your hotel available online, presenting them as a list for potential guests. The information is obtained through various OTAs and directly from your website.

This makes it much easier for travelers to compare rates across multiple channels to make the most efficient booking decision. The primary difference is that metasearch engines don’t directly sell their own inventory allotments.

There are several advantages of metasearch engines when hospitality companies decide to work with them.

Advantages of Hotel Comparison Search Engines

• Adding your hotel to a metasearch engine list gives you more opportunities for visibility online
• Metasearch engines use a pay-per-click model, meaning you don’t pay high commissions. This is a great way to market without the need for a huge investment.
• Mixing up your distribution channels doesn’t make you reliant on specific platforms.
• Metasearch engines increase your direct bookings since they allow travelers to purchase rooms directly on your website.
• Normally metasearch engines lead to a high number of positive reviews.

Disadvantages of Hotel Comparison Search Engines

• Normally travelers can’t book directly from the metasearch engine website.
• They can also significantly increase local competition.

What Are the Most Efficient Ways to Leverage Metasearch Engines?

The following list provides the most efficient ways to work with metasearch engines.

• Displaying updated pricing and room availability
• Total spend on clicks
• Booking conversion ratios and cost to your organization
• Ensuring pricing consistency across OTAs
• Monitoring online reviews

You’re probably wondering what your options are regarding these platforms. The following section highlights the best search engines for hotel rooms.

Best Metasearch Engines

There are several options when it comes to metasearch engines. The following list contains some of the top companies your hotel should consider working with.

1. TripAdvisor.com

TripAdvisor began in 2000 as a travel review website and has since transformed into one of the top metasearch engine platforms online. However, the company still places heavy emphasis on hospitality reviews. TripAdvisor displays all customer reviews for a hotel, plus rates and other information.

2. Google Hotel Ads

Google actually started Google Hotel Ads in 2011 under the name Google Hotel Finder.

When individuals use Google Maps to search for hospitality options, hotel ads are displayed with price information and comparisons from various OTAs. This same information is also displayed when users search for hotels on Google.com.

Although hotel Google ads have been available since 2011, they’ve started to ramp up their participation in the travel market recently. Because a huge portion of online hotel bookings begins on Google.com, becoming a Google Hotel Ads partner can garner significant results.

Trivago was founded in 2005 in Germany and is owned by the Expedia Group. Trivago operates in over 50 different global markets, making them a huge player. In fact, they are one of the largest metasearch engines in the world. If you own a hotel that has locations worldwide, Trivago could be a great option for brand exposure on a global scale.

Kayak is owned by Bookings Holdings and is currently active in over 30 countries. This metasearch engine displays results from over 2 million hotels and is known for its review features. They only allow genuine reviews from real, verified hotel guests. This means that companies aren’t able to cheat and post phony reviews to boost their ratings.

5. Skyscanner

Skyscanner is owned by the Trip.com Group and has been an active metasearch engine since 2003. They originally began by offering flight comparisons but have since expanded to include other comparisons as well. Skyscanner can be an efficient option since you can connect your central reservations system and channel manager directly to their platform.

Wego launched out of Singapore in 2005. They offer support in more than 50 countries but place most of their efforts on the Middle East and India. Their results are generated by searching various OTAs and providing users with all pricing and availability options.

How Do I Promote Using Metasearch Engines?

There are several options for promoting your brand using a metasearch engine. The following list highlights the three most common promotion options:

• Advertising models usually operate using pay-per-click, allowing your hotel ads to display when travelers search for relevant terms. Setting the right prices will lead to higher conversion rates, so optimization is important.
• Commission-based models are when your hotel doesn’t pay for ad space but instead pays a commission when sales are generated through a metasearch engine. This is similar to the same model used by OTAs.
• Combination models use both approaches, allowing hotels to maximize their results for visibility.

It’s possible to deal directly with metasearch engines and promote your hotel via these platforms. However, if you want to maximize your dealings with metasearch engines, you should consider using Hotelogix.

We can help you take advantage of Google’s free booking links. This is exposure similar to how pay-per-click works but at no cost to you.

Google’s technology partners operate the free booking links feature, and Hotelogix is directly connected to many of these partners. This means we can provide greater flexibility when it comes to working with Google Hotel Ads.

We can also help you connect with TripAdvisor to provide greater exposure and maximize your revenue. Contact Hotelogix to speak to one of our representatives so we can schedule you a demo to test these services firsthand.

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• Our Approach

Metasearch And Travel: What You Need To Know

The core of the internet is based on the amount of information generated each day. There is hardly anything that can’t be researched using the various search engines at our disposal.

Metasearch engines act as a middle platform. They are available as separate websites that take queries from the visitors. These queries are then used to produce search results that are based on data from another search engine. Metasearch engines are also known as aggregators. They work the same ways normal search engines do but the accuracy of the results can often be not as good. These engines merely take input from the users and send them to third-party search engines. The data obtained from the third-party engines is formatted and ranked accordingly to be presented to the users.

Advantages of Metasearch Engines

Metasearch engines have a few advantages due to which they are rapidly gaining popularity in the internet world.

Metasearch engines don’t merely use one source as their third-party search engine. The queries are sent out to several search engines. Therefore, a single and specific topic can be covered more widely. As a result, the researcher will have more information at their disposal, increasing the chances of finding what they are looking for.

On the other hand, these results are obtained with less amount of exertion. Instead of searching one single search engine to find a specific link or browsing through several, the right amount of information can be obtained through one platform.

The metasearch engine trend has been around for a while. However, it has been recently gaining momentum in the travel and hospitality industry.

More and more people prefer making plans on the go. As a result, internet research for travel options is very common. According to a web analytics firm, a trip planner will visit a travel website an average of 21 times before booking a trip. We can safely say that this new trend is disrupting the travel industry.

Commercial travel companies like Priceline and Expedia find an ideal opportunity with this trend to increase customers and help them book trips faster. Without a metasearch engine, booking trip normally can be a tedious task. Travel metasearch engines make it easier to compare options and find what suits the requirements of the traveler in the best possible way.

The trend seems to be lucrative as far as commercial travel companies are concerned. This can be proven by the fact that Priceline acquired Kayak and Expedia bought Trivago.

How does Metasearch Work in The Travel Industry?

In terms of the travel industry, a metasearch engine is used to compare Online Travel Agencies or OTAs. Metasearch engines like TripAdvisor and Kayak make money by the fee paid to them by the OTA. Let’s say that an online trip planner booked a certain OTA through TripAdvisor. This will result in payment to TripAdvisor by the OTA that was booked.

Users input queries based on their requirements in these travel metasearch engines. Results will be provided filtered according to rates parity, the length of the trip, location, check in date, etc.

In other cases, a metasearch engine may also be paid by a hotelier to promote their brand. Elite SEM can work with each of these metasearch engines to manage ongoing promotion of your hotel brand.

Why is Metasearch a Booming Trend in the Travel Industry?

As mentioned before, booking a trip manually can be tedious. When planning to travel, people have different requirements part from what their budget is. They may have different goals like a romantic weekend, Honeymoon trip, corporate trip, a casual escape, a family vacation or wedding destination. Metasearch engines for travel industry make it easy to narrow down your options for finding the best choice meeting the requirements of the user.

Metasearch engines will produce results for hotelier brands and locations that not only fit your travel budget but meet specific requirements as mentioned in the above requirements. It is fairly easier to put in the requirements because one does not have to find appropriate keywords or key phrases at most times. Instead, these metasearch engines provide categories that can be chosen before hitting the search button.

Apart from that, these platforms are also a great source for marketing and promotion purposes. They post information and reviews for specific locations and hotelier brands. These posts are focused on highlighting the travel aspects and attracting the right target audience. On the other hand, customer reviews are beneficial for potential trip planners.

Google and Metasearch for Traveling

In an attempt to dominate the hotel finder sector as well, Google has introduced its very own metasearch, Google Hotel Ads. Google has many developments underway that will be ultimately beneficial for their hotel finder.

Their biggest rival as of now is TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor has the ability to attract 60 million unique visitors on a monthly basis.

The advantage comes to TripAdvisor because they are providing far more categories for metasearch to their users than any other similar platform. With TripAdvisor, it is far easier to narrow down search results according to the narrowest of specifications from the users. Furthermore, the platform also provides a massive amount of review data, which is quite useful for potential trip planners.

Metasearch for the travel industry is highly positive. The benefits not only come for OTAs, hotelier brands and tourism departments but for the travel enthusiasts as well. In a world where the market is saturated and enough time is not available for users to compare the best deals, metasearch provides an easier solution. Moreover, many such platforms are also available in forms of smartphone applications. Therefore, it has become possible for people to compare suitable deals and trips on the fly.

Want to learn more about Search? Read our case study on how Paid Search and Shopping helped Barneys.com see a ROAS increase of 30% .

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What is hotel metasearch marketing? The complete guide for lodging properties

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By Rosalia Arias

For travelers, planning a vacation can be a lot of work. To save time and money, more travelers are turning to metasearch platforms like Google Hotel Ads, Tripadvisor, and Trivago to search for hotels, conduct price comparisons, and find deals. And yet, many hotels overlook metasearch in their digital marketing strategy , missing out on opportunities to reach a broader segment of travelers, compete for business with online travel agencies (OTAs), and drive direct bookings.

This guide aims to take the mystery out of metasearch marketing for independent hotels and other types of lodging properties. Read on to learn more about what metasearch is, how metasearch sites differ from OTAs, and how to implement a hotel metasearch strategy that increases your online presence, generates more bookings, and earns higher profits.

What is hotel metasearch?

Although the concept of metasearch may be new to some hoteliers and hosts, it’s actually been part of the travel industry for over 20 years. Sometimes called “a search engine for search engines,” a metasearch platform acts as an information aggregator.

The most popular metasearch platforms in the hospitality industry include Google Hotel Ads, Tripadvisor, KAYAK, Trivago, and Skyscanner. Some metasearch sites also aggregate information for flights, car rentals, and activities, allowing travelers to plan an entire trip from one travel site.

How do hotel metasearch engines work?

Most metasearch sites operate in a similar way. Upon arriving on the platform, the user is prompted to enter a destination and the desired travel dates. Much like with OTAs, the search results then display a list of available hotels and rates in the destination. When potential guests click on a hotel, a listing appears, showing hotel information, photos, and traveler reviews, along with rates and availability pulled from a variety of booking sources. Some listings may display rates for several room categories, while others may display only the best available rate. Additional booking details may also be provided such as the cancellation policy and inclusions like free breakfast or Wi-Fi.

To make a booking, the user can click on one of the links and will be taken to the booking source to complete the reservation. On some metasearch sites, users may also have the option to book the hotel without leaving the site.

Booking links on metasearch platforms are typically dominated by OTAs like Booking.com , Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotels.com , but other intermediaries like Tripadvisor and KAYAK may also be listed. If a hotel advertises on the metasearch site, its rate and a link to its website booking engine will be displayed along with the other links, representing the only direct booking option.

Hotel metasearch vs. online travel agencies

So what is the difference between metasearch sites and online travel agencies? The main difference is that OTAs provide room rates and booking capabilities for only one booking channel – their own – whereas metasearch sites display rates for multiple booking channels – sometimes up to twenty or even more.

If the hotel is maintaining rate parity, there shouldn’t be a lot of difference among the room rate offerings across booking sites. In reality, however, there are often significant variances, and the site that offers the lowest rate typically receives the most clicks. To attract bookings, advertisers often try to undercut one another, even by just a dollar or two.

Another key difference between metasearch sites and OTAs is the booking model. OTAs work on a commission model, typically charging hotels a percentage of the total booking value (room rate + taxes and fees). Metasearch engines, on the other hand, work primarily on a cost-per-click business model, although most now offer a commission model too.

What is hotel metasearch marketing? 

In addition to room rates, the order in which listings appear on metasearch platforms can also have a significant bearing on click volume. Typically, the higher the link is on the page, the more clicks it generates. So it’s not enough to be listed on a metasearch site; hotels also must compete with other advertisers to appear as high as possible in relevant search results.

When hotels don’t advertise on a metasearch site, a link to their website won’t appear, and the user is likely to book their stay through one of the OTAs or other intermediaries listed. Not only does the hotel miss out on an opportunity to get a direct booking, but it must also pay a commission to the OTA if a booking results. This is a key reason why metasearch campaigns are an essential part of a well-rounded hotel marketing strategy.

How does hotel metasearch advertising work?

Depending on the platform, hotels typically can choose between two metasearch payment models: cost-per-click (CPC) or commission-based. In the cost-per-click model, also called pay-per-click (PPC), the hotel pays a fee to the metasearch engine for every click that leads to its own website. The hotel bids for ad placements to compete with other advertisers for a higher ranking in hotel search results, setting a maximum CPC fee or budget. Generally, the higher the bid, the higher the ranking, but other factors may also be taken into consideration, such as the room rate, ad relevance, and landing page quality.

Some metasearch engines also offer a pay-per-impression (PPI) option, in which case the hotel pays a fee for a certain number of impressions or views, whether or not clicks or bookings result.

Traditionally, metasearch engines have operated on a pay-per-click model, but today most metasearch sites now offer a commission option too. In this model, which is also referred to as cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or pay-per-stay (PPS), hotels pay a commission, or a percentage of the room rate, on bookings. With CPA, the advertiser will pay commission based on sales generated, not stays, which means the commission is due after a guest makes an online booking and is charged whether the guest cancels the booking or not. With PPS, the advertiser will only pay the commission after the guest checks out of the property. This is similar to the OTA model, although metasearch commission rates are typically lower.

There are pros and cons to each model. On the one hand, CPC fees are much lower per transaction than commissions, but the hotel pays these fees whether or not a booking results in a stay. With the commission model, the hotel pays only when a booking is completed.

So which metasearch payment option is best? Testing out both options might be the best way to find out which one works best for your marketing budget. That being said, on metasearch platforms, the cost-per-click model is generally more popular with hotels than the commission model. With a smart metasearch strategy, a hotel’s return on investment can be higher on CPC campaigns than on commission-based bookings on both metasearch sites and OTAs.

Hotel metasearch vs. hotel metasearch marketing

To summarize, hotel metasearch refers to platforms used by travelers to compare a hotel’s rates across booking channels. Hotel metasearch marketing refers to advertising on these platforms to generate awareness, clicks, and bookings.

The importance of metasearch marketing for independent properties

You may be wondering, why would I advertise on metasearch channels when I have free booking links? Ben Lloyd and Kent Schnepp answered this question during Passport 2023. 

For independent hotels, hostels, inns, and other types of accommodations, metasearch marketing offers a number of advantages. This includes opportunities to:

• Broaden your reach.  Metasearch is part of a healthy and diversified distribution strategy. The more channels your property appears on, the greater the visibility, the higher the awareness, and the more opportunities to generate reservations.
• Increase revenue and profitability. Travelers love hotel metasearch sites because they make it easy to compare rates from a variety of booking sources. For hotels, a metasearch strategy gets you in front of high-intent travel shoppers, with the potential to generate bookings at a lower cost than other distribution channels.
• Compete with OTAs.  Metasearch engine advertising is crowded with OTAs. By listing on these platforms, your property will stand out from the crowd, attracting travel planners away from OTAs and generating those  lucrative direct bookings .
• Own the relationship.  Unlike OTA bookings, direct bookings allow you to collect guest contact information at the time of reservation. You can start building relationships with guests right away using automated email communications like booking confirmations and pre-arrival messages.
• Upsell and cross-sell. When travelers visit your website, you have more control over the booking experience. You can promote higher-category rooms, packages, and amenities that may not be available on OTAs, as well as additional on-property services like the restaurant, bar, retail, spa, and activities.
• Target active trip planners.  Because metasearch ads are displayed only if your property has availability on the chosen dates, you don’t pay for clicks for dates when your hotel rooms aren’t available, as can happen with Google Ads and other advertising channels.

The 6 best hotel metasearch engines

To help you decide where to list, here’s an overview of the most popular metasearch websites in the hotel industry today.

1. Google Hotel Ads

According to Skift, Google accounts for 67% of all metasearch spending, and that means it should be your top priority. Further, Google Hotel Ads (GHA) are integrated into Google Search results, Maps, and Google My Business Profiles, providing unrivaled exposure for your brand. Whether or not you purchase GHA, you should take advantage of the free booking links now offered by Google. 

2. Tripadvisor

Launched in 2000, Tripadvisor is one of the original metasearch platforms. Today, it’s one of the most popular travel sites in the world and serves as an essential source of traveler reviews. Tripadvisor offers a number of advertising options for hotels, including its TripConnect cost-per-click program, a commission model called Instant Booking, and Sponsored Placements. Although Tripadvisor launched Instant Booking in 2014, booking activity is still relatively low on the site, and most hotels opt for the CPC model. Find out more about advertising on Tripadvisor .

Launched in 2005 and purchased by Expedia Group in 2012, Trivago now works with more than 180 OTAs around the world. The site offers a cost-per-click model, in which the hotel is charged the amount it bids for each click, and a cost-per-acquisition model, in which the hotel pays a predefined percentage on the value of bookings. With either model, when users click on the advertised rate they are directed to the hotel’s website to complete the booking. Find out how to get listed on Trivago or how to take advantage of Trivago’s Free Booking Links . 

Another one of the original metasearch channels, KAYAK first appeared in 2004 and was purchased by Booking Holdings in 2013. Today, the company operates seven brands, including HotelsCombined, and works with more than 60 international sites in over 20 languages. Find out more about advertising on KAYAK .

Formerly Bezurk, Wego is a travel metasearch site based in Singapore. The site operates in 76 countries and in over 22 languages but is most popular in the Asia Pacific and MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) regions, where it is the #1 travel app for IOS and Android devices. Wego allows users to shop and compare flight and hotel prices from over 700 travel sites. Find out how to get listed on Wego .

6. Skyscanner

Founded in 2003 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Skyscanner was acquired by Shanghai-based Trip.com Holdings in 2016. Today, Skyscanner is used by 100 million people per month in 52 markets and is available in over 30 languages. Launched in 2014, the Skyscanner Hotels service has grown to become a global sales platform for hotel brands and OTAs. Find out more about hotel integrations with Skyscanner .

6 hotel metasearch tips & strategies

To maximize your return on investment in hotel metasearch marketing, consider the following strategies:

• Optimize your reach. Choose to work with metasearch channels that make the best fit for your property in terms of popularity, target markets, costs, and booking potential. Set a strategy, budget, and bidding parameters for each channel.
• Manage rates. Strive to maintain rate parity across distribution channels. If OTAs offer lower rates than your direct rates, your advertising dollars will be wasted as most travelers will choose the cheapest channel. If your rates are being undercut by an intermediary, find out why and ask them to stop.
• Diversify offerings. Rather than list only your cheapest rate, offer several room types and rate plans to appeal to a broader segment of travelers, along with add-ons and inclusions such as free cancellation, breakfast, or parking.
• Optimize your listing. Much like OTA listings, metasearch listings should be complete and up-to-date with property information, descriptions, amenities, and quality photos. Compare your listings with other properties in your area to ensure your content stands out from competitors and update the information regularly.
• Manage reviews. Some metasearch sites feature user reviews, whereas others aggregate reviews from other sources. In either case, your hotel’s rating and reviews will have a significant impact on clicks and conversions. Include metasearch channels in your reputation management efforts by monitoring and responding to reviews and using guest feedback to guide improvements.
• Monitor performance. Keep a close eye on your ad spend, bids, clicks, and conversion rates across channels to ensure you’re generating the best performance possible within your allocated budget. If one channel is performing better than others, consider shifting more dollars to that channel.

What independent hotels need to get started on metasearch

If you’re listed on OTAs, you’re probably already listed on metasearch channels too. However, your listing may be inaccurate or incomplete. As a starting point, it’s a good idea to visit metasearch sites to create, claim, or update your listing. Note that some content on metasearch listings may be pulled from OTAs and other sources.

Selecting the right partners is another essential step. While some metasearch engines allow hotels to work with them directly, managing rates and availability on multiple channels can be time-consuming and prone to errors. This can lead to double bookings, overbookings , and missed booking opportunities. As a result, many independent hotels choose to work with only a limited number of distribution channels, but that means they’re missing out on revenue opportunities.

Most metasearch sites require independent properties to work through a connectivity partner, and that makes things easier for everyone. A connectivity partner can provide all the integrations you require as well as manage metasearch advertising campaigns and bidding on your behalf, saving you time and preventing costly errors.

Last, choosing the right tools will ensure you have the technological ecosystem that best supports metasearch marketing strategies. Key tools include:

• A website booking engine integrated with your PMS or central reservation system (CRS) to drive direct bookings
• A channel manager to easily manage pricing and inventory across multiple distribution channels
• A revenue management system with a built-in rate shopping tool to monitor competitor rates and ensure optimal price positioning at all times

The Cloudbeds platform offers these tools and more. A proud connectivity partner with Google, Tripadvisor, and other metasearch sites, Cloudbeds has the functionality to help increase your visibility and direct bookings. We can also help you activate your free booking links on Google.

About Rosalia Arias

Rosie is on the Product Marketing team at Cloudbeds. She is based in San Jose, Costa Rica, and has five years of experience in the hospitality ad-tech industry. When she isn’t working, Rosie can be found hiking, Latin dancing, and traveling to new places.

What is hotel metasearch marketing? The complete guide

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Metasearch in Hospitality: an Overview of Hotel Search Engines

• 16 min read
• Published: 26 Mar, 2021
• 1 Comment Share

The hospitality industry was among those that suffered the most because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, hotel occupancy in the US dropped to its lowest level ever -- a dismal 24.5 percent . The annual average was roughly 44 percent, which means that more than half of the hotel rooms were empty during the whole year. To survive the crisis, hoteliers have to take measures, i.e., prioritize cleaning procedures, adopt contactless technologies -- and reconsider their distribution strategy . Listing your property in metasearch websites and investing in a marketing campaign can help increase visibility and attract more direct bookings . We’ve already described the main distribution channels : GDSs , OTAs , and bed banks . In this article, we will explain what metasearch engines are, how they work, and how hotels can connect to main platforms and get the most out of this partnership. The article is addressed mainly to hotel managers, but we’re sure OTA representatives can also find some useful information on metasearch management.

What is a metasearch engine?

How metasearch engines work

Investments in ads vs. metasearch engines

To get a better understanding of how metasearch engines work, let’s first discuss how they make money.

Metasearch cost models

HotelsCombined search options from different inventory providers

Another common cost model for metasearch engines is CPI (cost per impression) . That’s when an agreed rate is paid per 1,000 views of an ad. However, it’s rarer in the hospitality industry so we’re not going to discuss it in detail. Today, many large travel platforms act both as a metasearch engine and OTA, allowing for instant booking on the same screen. In this case, a CPA (cost per action/acquisition) cost model is also possible. Here, a commission, or percentage of reservation value, is charged only if the booking is made through an ad or listing. It can reduce the risk of inefficient spending as advertisers pay on performance. However, since a commission rate can’t be adjusted as easily as in the CPC model, there is less flexibility in reacting to possible changes and less influence on the placement of your listing. Another model adopted by metasearch engines with booking capabilities is PPS, which stands for pay per stay and means that a fixed commission is paid only for actual guest stays. Also, there are various hybrid models that are combinations of the above options.

Connectivity options and how to get featured

To work with metasearch engines, you have to share your inventory, rates, and availability that is going to be displayed to travelers. Here are the options on how to establish this integration.

• Through a connectivity partner . The easiest way to connect to metasearch engines is through a booking engin e from a connectivity provider approved by the metasearch platform. Having a booking engine and / or a channel manager is a recommendation and sometimes even a strict requirement of metasearch websites to automate the information retrieval and update process.
• Via open APIs . Another option is manually connecting your software and a metasearch engine via APIs to activate data exchange. The main problem here is technical complexity (you need a tech specialist to set up the integration). Many metasearch platforms do not provide APIs at all, forcing hoteliers to connect through partners.
• Through an OTA . If for any reason you don’t want to work with metasearch websites directly, you can partner with an OTA and it can list your property on your behalf.

You can definitely just have your property’s profile on some metasearch platforms without establishing any integration. Sometimes, it can even be created by an OTA you’re partnering with (you can claim this listing if you want to manage it yourself). In this case, travelers will be able to see your descriptions, contact details, images, etc., but no current rates and availability would be displayed.

General tips on working with metasearch engines

An overview of main metasearch engines

Google Hotel Ads

Today, Google’s share in the search engine market is about 92 percent , making it an absolute leader, travel sector included. If you’re still skeptical about its importance, check out our thought-provoking video on the role Google is playing in the travel industry.

Google in travel industry

Over the years, Google keeps developing and updating its functionality to provide maximum value to suppliers and travelers. For example, in March 2021, Google announced the unprecedented  free booking links update for Google Hotel Ads, which means that hotels and OTAs can now advertise their inventory for free! But let’s start from the beginning.

How to connect to Google Hotel Ads

To have your property listed and advertised on the Google Hotel Ads platform, you’ll first have to set up a free Google My Business account, a Google Ads account, and a Google Hotel Center account . Then, you have two options for sharing your rates and availability. You can either do it through connectivity partners or via APIs. Here’s a list of authorized software providers already integrated with Google. There’s about a hundred companies, including such popular ones as STAAH, Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, eZee, TravelClick, etc. That’s an easy and recommended way to go to automate the setup and further updating. Google Hotel APIs allow you to upload files with your pricing, room inventory, availability, and URL destinations to redirect a user for booking. For price updates, you can choose from three delivery modes:

• pull mode  when Google periodically queries pricing updates from a hotel website. After receiving the new information, it takes Google approximately five minutes to process and change data;
• availability, price, and inventory (ARI) or push mode when a hotel pushes messages to a metasearch engine each time changes in its predefined pricing model occur. This enables setting a pricing strategy based on rate details, restrictions, and availability; and
• changed pricing mode which works as a pull mode but only for a subset of property. The mode reduces network traffic when updates are performed.

No matter the delivery mode, all files with hotel information must be presented in XML format and stored on a hotel’s server accessible via HTTP.

Campaign options

Paid ads and free booking links

You can also start running ads as a part of your hotel campaign . That means you can create and tailor your ads to reach specific customer groups. Google Hotel Ads offers CPC, CPA. and PPS cost models. If you consider partnering with Google, take a look at its Advanced features guide , which gives useful tips on managing your bidding. Among other things, it recommends using a free conversion tracking tool to analyze the performance of your campaigns. Keep in mind that there are certain limits applied to your ad campaigns, i.e., 1,000 hotel campaigns per Google Ads account and 100 bids per hotel.

Book on Google feature

Google also offers a Book on Google (BoG) feature that allows travelers to complete their booking and payment without leaving Google instead of being redirected to the OTA’s or hotel’s website. In this case, Google processes payment and sends the booking and customer information to the hotel. BoG is an optional feature that you can activate at no additional cost in case you have an active Google Hotel Ads campaign. Note that it works only for large hotel chains and OTAs since one of the requirements for this feature is having at least 100 participating hotels or 25,000 rooms . Of course, there are pros and cons. On one hand, it’s convenient for guests and improves user experience and satisfaction. It also increases conversion and drives semi-direct bookings (which means, no OTA commissions). On the other hand, users won’t get to your site so you might miss the chance to upsell or create a stronger brand awareness (though you have their contact details and can still promote your brand and work on your customer relationships). Besides, such important information as conversion rates and customer views that can be valuable for marketing purposes doesn’t get to your CRM system. In case you want to enable the BoG feature, here are the Book on Google APIs that, as we mentioned, cater to larger players. So, besides having a sufficient inventory, keep in mind that BoG

• uses JSON data exchange,
• requires PCI DSS compliance ,
• necessitates localized customer support, and
• compels on average 50 daily conversions through Hotel Ads.

Also, note that the BoG feature is available in a limited number of countries (here’s the list ).

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor claims to be the largest travel guidance platform, hosting 884 million reviews and opinions of about 8 million travel service providers. Hundreds of millions of people visit this website every month while planning their trips. So, you definitely want your property to be there and promote your services.

How to connect to TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor’s Management Center interface

This part is simple and free, allowing you to be present on the site, interact with travelers, add TripAdvisor widgets to your website, and so on. If you want your rates and availability to be seen, you’ll have to integrate with TripAdvisor through one of their approved connectivity partners (such as Cloudbeds, Sabre, Mirai, etc.). No API connection is possible.

To display your rates on TripAdvisor, you have to either activate a TripConnect campaign or place an ad with Sponsored Placements. TripConnect CPC. Setting up TripConnect Cost-Per-Click (CPC) will provide searchers with your rates and availability and redirect them to your website to book if they are interested. This campaign operates on a bidding system, so your placement in the list of search results will depend on your bid amount. TripAdvisor recommends complementing this feature with Sponsored Placements for best results. Sponsored Placements. If you want more exposure and a higher position in the search results, you can promote your property with Sponsored Placements . Here, the so-called market-based CPC model is used, meaning that your cost per click can fluctuate depending on market changes. You’ll have to create an ad that will be displayed on top of unpaid search results regardless of the reviews and also on your local competitors’ pages. You also have to choose one of the three monthly budget options or to set your own custom budget based on the number of desired clicks. For more details, visit their FAQ section .

Instant booking feature

Instant Booking on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor’s best practices

TripAdvisor Widgets

Trivago is a part of the Expedia Group and has a large market share across Europe. It collects information from 300+ websites about more than 5 million accommodations in 190+ countries. Let’s see what you have to do to become a part of it.

How to connect to Trivago

To establish partnership with Trivago, you have to register with their Business Studio (formerly Trivago Hotel Manager). Then, you have the following options.

• You can connect through a booking engine and/or a channel manager from the list of Trivago certified partners such as AxisRooms, D-Edge, and eZee. Travelers will be able to see your rates and availability and then get redirected to your website to complete the booking.
• If your software provider is not on the list, you can go with Trivago’s FastConnect API to advertise your rates. The API integrates with a hotel’s booking engine or reservation system to request prices and availability each time a customer searches for accommodation options on Trivago. The responses must be formatted as JSON files.
• In case you don’t have any connectivity software, Trivago suggests that you use their free tool RoomUp to upload your rates and availability.
• To enable travelers to book directly through the Trivago website, you can implement their Express Booking API , which supports a JSON format. In this case, a user is redirected to a separate booking page with the look and feel of your brand. The API checks a room availability, submits a booking request with credit card data to a hotel, and confirms a reservation if the payment is authorized. Express Booking works on a standard CPC model with no additional commissions charged by Trivago.

Trivago also recommends integrating with one of their conversion tracking solutions via Conversion Pixel API or Conversion API accepting JSON files.

Booking options available on Trivago

Kayak and HotelsCombined

Both Kayak and HotelsCombined are owned and operated by Booking Holdings Inc., which includes multiple travel metasearch engines and OTAs such as Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Rentalcars, OpenTable, Momondo, Cheapflights, etc. Since the connection process is exactly the same, we will not describe it for HotelsCombined separately. Kayak allows travelers to search and compare prices for flights, hotels, car rentals, and packages. It’s available in 20+ languages and 30+ countries. Well, we all know it’s big and popular so let’s get straight to the point.

How to connect to Kayak

Just like TripAdvisor, Kayak doesn’t allow manual integration and doesn’t provide its APIs but requires a connection through one of their partnered booking engines (such as SynXis, D-Edge, Mirai, etc.). You also need to register on a Hotel Manager page to either claim one of the properties that are already listed or create a new one.

Kayak operates on CPC, CPA, and CPI models. It also offers a variety of advertising options , but you have to contact the team directly for more information.

Booking options on Skyscanner

Skyscanner welcomes new partners and offers integrations, but only on request, so fill in this contact form and talk to them directly.

How Skyscanner Transforms Travel Metasearch

Data-driven approach to metasearch management

Today, using analytics to make data-driven decisions can deliver a tremendous competitive advantage. Knowing your best-performing channels and your target audience will let you build an effective marketing and distribution strategy. Most metasearch websites allow you to evaluate your performance and compare it to your competitors', see who your main customers are and monitor their behavior on your webpage, track your ranking and reviews, and more. Here are some tips and considerations on managing your metasearch distribution with the help of data. Dynamic pricing . Since pricing is the key factor that influences customers’ choice, it’s worth developing a dynamic pricing strategy. It is a powerful tool that can bring many benefits, but it involves monitoring a lot of internal and external variables so using advanced techniques and machine learning algorithms can help with such aspects of pricing strategy as demand forecasting , yield management,etc. Google Analytics . Integrating your booking engine with Google Analytics platform (most providers offer such integration out of the box) will give you vital information on your online performance. You’ll be able to monitor traffic from metasearch websites, conversion rate, revenue generated through different channels, and user behavior. Competitor analysis . Benchmarking and monitoring your competitors’ activity will let you instantly notice market fluctuations and respond by adjusting your own strategy. For example, you can follow your competitors on social media or sign up for their emails to know about their promotions. You can also use rate checking software like RateSTalk by STAAH to easily track their rates and/or a competitor “spy tool” like SpyFu to know everything about their marketing performance. The more you know about your competition, the better you can compete in the metasearch arena. Consider checking our case study in which AltexSoft partners with Key Data Dashboard to enhance their business intelligence tool with AI-driven features to analyze KPIs like Occupancy Rate, WAPE, Average Daily Rate, etc. In this project, our team of data scientists used ML algorithms to improve the comparison of similar properties’ performance and accurately forecast occupancy rate based on the information from the nearest areas. Testing and monitoring . Even if you have developed a bidding and pricing strategy, you have to stay flexible and continue to monitor your conversion, market conditions, and competitors’ performance and rates. Try changing different elements of your campaign to understand how such adjustments influence your result and then optimize your strategy accordingly. Metasearch management solution . Consider implementing a metasearch manager to assist with your campaigns. Some popular providers are Bookassist , Avvio , and Koddi . Such software automates and facilitates your bidding management, enables customer segmentation, and offers robust reporting. With strategic, data-informed management, metasearch engines can become a powerful distribution channel. Our recommendation is to start with the most popular ones, such as Google and Tripadvisor, and as you come up with an optimal bidding and pricing strategy, connect to other platforms to maximize your customer reach.

@2024 Voyage Labs . All Rights Reserved.

What is a Hotel Metasearch Engine? Everything to Know

Key takeaways.

• Hotel Metasearch platforms can boost direct bookings by strategically employing keyword bidding and ad placements.
• Travel metasearch websites effectively compare and present hotel options from diverse sources, simplifying the process of finding the most attractive deals for users.
• Prominent metasearch service providers, such as Google Hotels, Tripadvisor, Trivago, Skyscanner, Kayak, HotelsCombined, and Wego, offer booking functionalities and utilize strategies like Cost-per-Click and Cost-per-Acquisition to determine hotel rankings, thereby enhancing the options available to users.

Today, travelers increasingly use the Internet to research and plan trips. This includes destination search, comparing airfares and room rates, as well as looking for travel packages that combine stays with activities and attractions.

Metasearch engines play a crucial role in enabling travelers to access all this information and more at their fingertips. By aggregating the search results of multiple travel search engines and sequencing them according to custom algorithms, metasearch engines provide users with a wider set of travel options than Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) do.

Most metasearch providers deliver airfare, accommodation, and activity results; however, hotel metasearch engines focus on accommodation.

In this blog, we will explore the nitty gritties of metasearch engines, including their working models and connectivity, look at today’s key metasearch players, and demystify the process of shortlisting a metasearch provider for your hotel.

• What’s a Hotel Metasearch Engine?

A hotel metasearch engine is a tool that assimilates information on Availability, Rates, and Inventory (ARI) from multiple accommodation providers using results from several search engines and presents them to end users to help them make an informed choice of accommodation.

Metasearch sites are one of a plethora of distribution channels, such as Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), OTAs, bed banks , Travel Management Companies (TMCs), and Destination Management Companies (DMCs) employed by hotels to publish their ARI data and generate online bookings.

While most of these channels contribute to a hotel’s share of indirect bookings, metasearch sites are an important source of direct bookings. This is driven by the metasearch engine including multiple booking sources for the same property within a single listing, essentially leveling the playing field between hotel websites and their OTA partners.

In other words, metasearch sites enable travelers to perform comparison shopping: weighing multiple accommodation facilities against each other, as well as comparing multiple booking sites for a single property to see which one offers the best price, add-ons, or benefits.

Excluding the unexpected pandemic-induced slowdown in 2020, the years from 2019 to 2022 saw the proportion of direct bookings aided by metasearch sites rise by over 40% . Interestingly, this period also witnessed a ballooning of direct bookings as part of the overall bookings, going up by 98%.

How does a Metasearch Engine Work?

Let’s now get to the working of a metasearch engine. Much like a search engine, a hotel metasearch engine receives inputs from a user, such as destination, travel dates, and number of travelers. With these inputs, the metasearch engine runs queries on multiple search engines, including those of OTAs like Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, Agoda, and Trip.com, hotel websites, bed banks, wholesalers, and other metasearch sites.

Each of these sites returns hotels and other accommodation options that correspond to the search criteria. The metasearch engine’s next task is to eliminate any identical results, which typically means an identical hotel listing on the same booking channel.

Similarly, the search engine also identifies listings of a specific hotel on different channels that may offer varied pricing, amenities, or services. It collates all these listings under a unified metasearch listing that allows users to view and compare a hotel’s available booking options on multiple platforms.

Subsequently, the search engine uses its ranking algorithm to sequence the search results. The sequence of results depends on a host of factors, including price, relevance, user reviews and ratings, rich content (images, videos, etc.), a hotel website’s landing page, to name a few.

When a user selects a hotel, the metasearch engine takes them to the detailed listing that contains several booking options for the hotel, including (if the hotel advertises on the metasearch platform) its direct booking website. Users are able to view rich content, such as property images, videos, and user reviews. In some cases, hotels even upload data on additional amenities, packages, or complimentary benefits ( wifi, breakfast, etc.) to encourage direct bookings.

To make bookings, users click on one of the provided links that takes them to the specific booking channel where they can complete the reservation. Today, some metasearch providers offer booking within their platform, charging the supplier or reseller a booking commission, often a percentage of the total booking value.

Metasearch Pricing

When metasearch platforms were introduced in the early 2000s, they functioned solely as aggregators, collecting travel products from other search engines, followed by processing and presenting them in a unique format that was unavailable on other platforms.

Although hotels and other suppliers could find a place on metasearch results without spending a dime, they needed to separately integrate with a metasearch provider to relay updated ARI data and include booking links. We’ll get to how hotels do this today in a bit.

So, if listing is essentially free, how do metasearch engines make money? We answer that question below.

• Cost per Click (CPC): This is applicable when a user clicks on a booking link that redirects them to a hotel or an OTA’s booking site. Hotels decide the maximum amount or bid they are willing to pay per click and convey this to the metasearch provider.

When a user searches for a keyword for which the hotel has placed a bid, the metasearch engine produces relevant results that may include the hotel. While its exact ranking among search results depends on several factors, the bid amount plays a huge role. The higher the bid, the more likely your property will rank higher.

If the user clicks on your property’s booking link and visits your website, you are entitled to pay the metasearch provider the bidding amount.

CPC cost models offer flexibility to hotels to play around with various bidding amounts and see what works best for them in terms of ROI. On the other hand, not all clicks generate bookings (and thus, revenue), contributing to a hotel’s marketing expenses.

Nonetheless, this is the most popular costing model preferred by hoteliers, when it comes to metasearch.

• Cost per Acquisition (CPA): As the name suggests, under this model hotels pay a metasearch provider a fixed percentage of the booking value for every acquisition or booking that is generated for their property from the metasearch site.

CPA has become a viable model with the gradual transition of metasearch providers into metasearch cum booking sites, thanks to their integration with suppliers that enable them to offer users instant booking facilities on metasearch platforms.

Unlike the CPC model that generates expenses even in the absence of bookings, the CPA model only charges hotels based on the number of bookings received through the platform. On the flip side, the percentage cost per booking under a CPA model is much higher than per click costs under CPC models.

• Pay per Stay (PPS): Under this pricing model, hotels pay metasearch providers only when a guest checks in for a stay. This is applicable for metasearch providers that offer booking capabilities on their sites.

As hoteliers often experience, not every booking materializes into stays. Some customers drop out at the last minute, either canceling altogether or postponing their stays for later, if such flexibility is permitted by the hotel. The PPS model ensures hotels only spend on bookings that convert into stays.

• Combination Pricing: Some metasearch providers offer a combination pricing mechanism, giving hotels the ability to choose between CPC, CPA, or a mix of both, depending on the market or other factors.
• Market-based CPC: Metasearch providers enable hotels and other suppliers to advertise on their platforms, running sponsored ads when a certain keyword is searched or on top of competitor listings. For such strategic placements, these providers charge hotels a market-based cost-per-click, with the actual figure depending on market conditions.

Metasearch Engine vs. Search Engine

A search engine is a tool that takes in user inputs and cross-references these inputs against its database of indexed websites to identify relevant sites and displays them within the user interface (typically, a browser) according to its unique ranking algorithm.

In that sense, the results and rankings obtained from search engines will vary from one to another. Occasionally, search engines also display incorrect or spam results.

Metasearch engines were conceived as a way to collate the best results of multiple search engines, weed out spam, and produce refined search results that meet and exceed user expectations.

Search results that rank well consistently across multiple search engines receive prime placement in metasearch results. On the other hand, metasearch filters out dubious results that do not appear in any other search engine results.

However, when it comes to travel, metasearch works slightly differently. Travel metasearch engines are more narrow in their scope, sourcing their inputs from OTAs and other suppliers (airlines, accommodation providers, car rentals, tour operators, etc.) as opposed to generic search engine results.

Therefore, while search engines crawl the Internet to index websites, travel metasearch engines only scour relevant supplier or OTA sites.

A point of similarity between metasearch and search engines lies in their offering advertising space to relevant players or bidders. For instance, when a user deploys a search engine to look for a travel package to Bali they will be able to view ads from travel companies that sell Bali packages on top of organic search results.

This is executed through keyword bidding. Search engines allow businesses to bid for specific keywords and display their ads when a user performs a search with the particular keyword. Every ad-click generated is charged based on the bidding amount. This is called a Pay-per-click (PPC) model, also referred to as Cost-per-click (CPC).

As discussed earlier, hotel metasearch sites also display relevant ads from travel companies and accommodation providers using market-based CPC models.

Metasearch Engine vs. OTA

While a cursory glance at these two types of travel distributors might leave a user thinking they are the same, nothing could be further from the truth.

OTAs enter into contractual agreements with suppliers (hotels, airlines, car rentals, tour operators, etc.) to list and sell the latter’s travel products on their platforms. These distributors do not list any booking channel other than their own. On the other hand, metasearch engines are mostly aggregators, which means they present an interactive platform to compare and view multiple travel products and booking channels, including a hotel’s direct booking website.

Metasearch sites enable travelers to find the cheapest rates online for a particular hotel or airline, although within a listing preference is given to suppliers with the highest bids. OTAs do not necessarily present the cheapest rates; in some cases, they markup hotel prices to account for their profit margins.

While OTAs may contribute to direct bookings, especially in cases where travelers are looking to only book a hotel and are merely using the OTA platform to compare hotel options, metasearch engines directly contribute to and have become an important source of direct hotel reservations.

In addition, an OTA effectively hampers a hotel’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) goals by withholding customer data and mediating every communication between a hotel and its customers; whereas, metasearch engines share customer information with hotels and enable them to establish direct contact with their prospective customers from the get-go.

It is a likely scenario that customers begin their travel search on a metasearch site and, if they find a suitable OTA option that meets their requirements, end up making bookings on the OTA website. Metasearch platforms enable users to redirect to any of the listed booking channels, while in some cases, users can even make bookings without leaving the platform.

This is due to a growing trend of metasearch providers seamlessly integrating with other travel distributors to offer more convenient booking experiences to customers. A case in point is the review aggregator turned metasearch giant Tripadvisor that, as early as in 2014, rolled out the Instant Booking feature for customers using mobile devices.

This feature enabled customers to complete their bookings within the familiar Tripadvisor environment while improving conversion rates for hotels and travel distributors.

Users on mobile devices prefer not to be redirected to other sites to complete their booking for two reasons: firstly, they might not trust the security credentials of a hotel website’s payment gateway and abandon the booking for other alternatives. Secondly, not all hotel websites are mobile-friendly, which makes scrolling through and completing a booking cumbersome.

In a sense, a metasearch engine’s booking features place it in direct competition with an OTA. What’s more, today’s metasearch providers offer end-to-end booking solutions, including flight, car rental, cruise, restaurant, and activity reservations that further blur the distinction between two types of travel distributors.

• How to Integrate with a Metasearch Engine

Considering the enhanced visibility and conversion rates offered to accommodation providers by metasearch sites, it is essential to include these travel players in your hotel’s distribution matrix. Below, we explore different ways you can list your hotel on a metasearch engine.

Through a channel manager

If you publish your hotel ARI data on multiple sites (OTAs, bed banks, or GDSs, to name a few), which might also include your direct booking website, chances are you use a channel manager to automate the process of managing reservations and updating inventory. Most channel managers can efficiently manage hundreds of booking channels that frees up your hotel staff to attend to their current customers.

Several metasearch providers offer connectivity with leading channel managers. For instance, the Cloudbeds channel manager connects seamlessly with metasearch sites such as Google Hotels, Tripadvisor and many more. Staah is another leading channel manager that connects with Google Hotels, Trivago, Tripadvisor, and HotelsCombined.

The TripConnect feature from Tripadvisor doesn’t directly integrate with hotel platforms. Instead, it enables third-party booking engines to offer pre-packaged Tripadvisor integration to hotels and other accommodation providers.

Moreover, some hotel Property Management Systems (PMS) and Central Reservation Systems (CRS) include built-in channel managers and booking engines that integrate with metasearch sites.

Through API integration

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are mediators that enable communication between two disparate software systems. APIs have become ubiquitous in the travel and hospitality industry, enabling suppliers and distributors to seamlessly exchange data without complex programming or software installation.

Nonetheless, it takes a skilled developer to establish a seamless API integration. Hoteliers employ third-party developers to build integrations between their PMS and external systems (GDSs, OTAs, metasearch sites, etc.).

Metasearch engines provide APIs that can be used by hoteliers to develop efficient push and pull mechanisms for hotel ARI data. For example, Trivago offers the Direct Connect API that enables hotels to directly publish their website rates on the platform. Similarly, Skyscanner provides the Hotels API for independent hotels, regional hotel groups, and global chains to list their properties on the Skyscanner platform.

Google also provides a set of Hotel APIs for suppliers to publish live ARI data.

Through an OTA

Another way for hotels to publish their inventory on metasearch sites is to do so indirectly via an OTA. By default, any hotel that partners with an OTA and lists its inventory on the OTA platform will also be visible on a metasearch engine’s results. However, such a listing need not be accurate or up-to-date. Moreover, information on availability and room rates and links to the hotel’s direct booking site will not be available for such indirect listings.

Hotels can claim such listings and register their property with the metasearch site using a connectivity provider, such as a channel manager or booking engine discussed above, or through APIs. This will enable them to update descriptions or images as well as provide up-to-date information on availability and rates. In addition, metasearch sites will also include direct booking links to your property within its listing.

• How to Choose the Best Metasearch Engine for Your Hotel

Bidding for prime placements in search results and running ads on the metasearch platform can shoot up your marketing expenses, since metasearch sites charge hotels based either on number of impressions, or clicks, or conversions, as discussed earlier.

Thus, it is important to make the most of every metasearch marketing dollar and periodically review the performance of your campaigns on these platforms. But before this can be done, hoteliers must identify the best metasearch sites for their property’s target audience, geographic location, and a host of other factors that we discuss below.

Audience and Traffic

A hotel metasearch site’s traffic should ideally comprise customers looking to book a hotel stay. Since most metasearch sites are designed to allow customers to pick and choose from a variety of travel services, such as flight bookings, hotel reservations, car rental bookings etc., OTAs gain precedence over direct booking channels on such platforms.

To offset this, accommodation providers can consider Google Hotels as a metasearch partner. Designed to offer an exclusive metasearch platform for hotels, Google Hotels boosts your property’s visibility among high-intent customers looking to reserve an accommodation as compared to conventional metasearch providers.

According to pre-pandemic figures from 2019 provided by Mirai, a digital agency that handles hotel ad campaigns, its client hotels invested up to 67% of their metasearch ad spend on Google. As of 2021, Google allows hoteliers to list their properties, including direct booking links for free, provided they work with a connectivity partner (channel manager, PMS, or CRS) that transmits real-time ARI data to Google.

Hotels that sign up with the Google Hotels platform also benefit from an official site badge for their listing, although it might not necessarily occupy the top spot in search results.

It is also important to determine the audience demographics and regional dominance of a metasearch platform before you decide to work with one. Consider, for instance, Trivago. Owned by the Expedia Group and considered one of the earliest players in the metasearch arena, Trivago has its largest market presence in Europe, although this by no means diminishes its global reach of over 190 countries worldwide.

What this means is if you own a property in Europe, you should definitely consider boosting your visibility on Trivago by means of metasearch advertising.

Another example is Wego, a metasearch platform based out of Singapore. The travel metasearch engine is especially popular in the Asia Pacific and MENA regions.

Kayak, another early entrant in the travel metasearch sector, is best suited for travelers searching for the best combined deals for accommodation and flight bookings. Given this, hotels might not figure prominently in search results and ads within the platform, while OTAs would.

On the other hand, Skyscanner is a metasearch engine popular with millennials and Gen Zers due to their focus on enabling travel exploration through their platform. Skyscanner helps users find the cheapest destinations to travel to and the cheapest times of the year to visit. Their emphasis on a large airline inventory must also be noted if you would like to list your property on this platform.

This is a critical factor that, if properly implemented, can boost visibility and generate positive cash flow for your hotel. Platforms that give hotels the flexibility to choose between CPC, CPA, PPS, or a combination of these models can be considered as viable metasearch partners.

It is also essential to experiment with different bidding amounts on various platforms to determine suitable CPC bids for each platform.

While it might be tempting to place a high bid for favorable placement in metasearch results, it may not yield the visibility or conversions you hope to achieve. This is so because a metasearch engine uses multiple factors in addition to bidding amounts to determine the ranking order of its search results. Factors such as relevance to a user’s search terms, room rates, user reviews and ratings, rich data, and website landing page performance can influence your hotel’s ranking.

At the same time, minimizing your bidding amount won’t deliver results; hence there is a need to be flexible with bidding amounts.

Another factor to remember is that the average bidding amount varies from one metasearch provider to another. For instance, running ads on the Google Hotels platform is expensive; however, it is a sureshot at gaining the most visibility today as opposed to conventional metasearch providers, simply because of its command over the metasearch space.

If you would rather go for a CPA or PPS model, you will need to consider the percentage commission rate for each provider. While Trivago charges between 5-8% as commission under a CPA model, Tripadvisor levies a 12-15% commission in lieu of your direct booking channel’s visibility in the instant booking feature next to your hotel’s name, under a PPS model.

Booking Model

Today, metasearch platforms enable users to choose from one of two booking models: redirect to a hotel’s website to complete the booking or make the reservation within the metasearch site.

There are pros and cons to both approaches. When users are redirected to a property’s website, they are leaving familiar territory. So, unless your website is up to scratch, integrated with a secure and trusted payment gateway, and adapted for mobile, prospects of abandonment loom large.

At the same time, redirecting users to your website gives you the opportunity to upsell or cross-sell additional services and upgrades, widening your revenue streams and building customer loyalty through brand engagement.

On the other hand, offering instant booking options on metasearch sites has proven to boost reservations, as metasearch sites are designed to offer a convenient booking experience, as well as the ability to combine with other services, such as flight and activity bookings. Moreover, the commission rates for bookings on metasearch platforms pale in comparison to OTA commissions, which means better returns for your investment.

Connectivity Options

As discussed earlier, metasearch providers enable hotels to connect to their platforms either via third-party connectivity providers, API integration, or indirectly, through OTAs.

While most platforms offer integration through a connectivity provider, such as a channel manager, a PMS, or a CRS, only a few enable API integration that transmits ARI data in real-time.

For instance, Google Hotels connects with nearly a hundred connectivity providers, including prominent names such as Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, STAAH, and many more, in addition to providing a Google Hotels API.

Skyscanner offers an API for hotels that enables these suppliers to push live ARI data and include direct booking links, but makes no mention of integrating via connectivity providers, probably because air travel constitutes its primary distribution segment.

With connectivity providers, hotels need not bother about building integrations manually; in most cases, it comes built-in with the software itself. Whereas, for APIs, hotels must use the services of a developer with prior experience in testing and building travel API integrations. This comprises an additional one-time cost.

Given the recent advancements in hotel technology, both connectivity providers and APIs prove to be equally reliable in terms of making high-speed ARI updates in real time. Therefore, making a choice between the two boils down to the relative costs and effort involved.

• Best Metasearch Engines to Increase Your Hotel Bookings

Let’s now take a look at the leading metasearch providers in the travel industry today, and understand which ones are best positioned to help drive bookings for your property.

Google Hotel Ads

Google made its debut in the travel market relatively recently in 2010. Since then, the search provider has emerged as a major competitor to other travel metasearch players, including Kayak and Skyscanner, among others. When it comes to boosting the visibility and credibility of your hotel, no other platform is perhaps as significant today as Google.

Google primarily offers metasearch services on its platform, enabling users to search for flights, hotels, things to do, and places to see, and find the cheapest available options for a particular time frame. Its seamless integration with Google Maps and users’ Gmail accounts makes it more of a personal travel assistant and advisor.

In March 2021, Google Hotel Ads launched its free service for hotels, allowing them to list their direct booking sites on the platform. To do this, hotels must first set up free accounts on Google My Business, Google Hotel Center, and Google Ads.

In order to provide real-time inventory information and nightly rates to users, you must either work with a connectivity partner or build an integration with Google Hotel APIs. If you use a leading channel manager or a PMS as part of your hotel’s tech stack, chances are they offer built-in Google connectivity for metasearch.

Once your account is set up, you will be able to view your hotel’s direct booking site as one of the available booking options under your hotel’s listing. It is also possible for you to run CPC, CPA, and PPS ad campaigns to further boost your property’s visibility in search results.

Tripadvisor

Tripavisor began in 2000 as a portal for travelers to find accurate and helpful travel reviews aggregated from all over the Internet. Eventually, it evolved into a travel review site, becoming a trustworthy source of user generated content on destinations, hotels, restaurants, and attractions.

In 2004, the platform was acquired by InterActiveCorp that also owned the Expedia group of companies. In 2011, Expedia Inc. spun off Tripadvisor.

Since its early days, Tripadvisor acquired numerous travel companies, including vacation rental websites; travel comparison sites; table booking websites and apps; travel research and review sites; hotel, flight, and airport information sites, and a lot more, cementing its authority as a repository of reliable information on all things travel.

In 2014, the company made its foray into the booking segment, offering the Instant Booking feature for users to reserve rooms within their platform. Previously, Tripadvisor functioned more like a metasearch engine, redirecting users to external booking channels to complete their reservations. The Instant Booking feature is charged on a PPS model with a percentage commission for all stays.

Hotels can join the platform by creating a new profile or claiming an existing profile (this is a likely scenario if you distribute your rooms through OTAs or bed banks). Doing this opens access to the Tripadvisor Management Center, a dashboard with all the information pertaining to your property on the platform.

Here, hoteliers can update hotel information, such as photos, videos, contact details, etc., respond to user reviews, and receive analytics reports on your hotel’s performance. The dashboard also lets you access their paid features, such as Sponsored Placements and TripConnect CPC campaigns.

The TripConnect feature can be used by hotels to place bids on certain keywords relevant to their property. Depending on the bid amount, Tripadvisor will display your hotel in keyword search results along with other bidders. Every resulting click on your listing must be paid for with the bidding amount in a CPC model.

Sponsored Placements is another way to boost the visibility of your property over organic search results. This is different from TripConnect and uses a market-based CPC pricing model. Using this feature, you can even place your ads on competitor pages.

Tripadvisor recommends hotels to use a combined strategy with both approaches to maximize ROI.

Founded in 2005 in Germany, Trivago is a publicly traded company whose majority stakes are owned by Expedia Group, a leading American OTA. The metasearch platform provides information on over five million hotels and accommodations spread across 190 countries and pulled from hundreds of booking sites.

To connect your hotel with Trivago, you need to sign up with the Trivago Business Studio. Trivago offers two options to update your hotel’s ARI data: use a certified connectivity partner (booking engine or channel manager) or integrate with their FastConnect API. It is also possible to offer bookings on the Trivago website, if a hotel decides to do so, using Trivago’s Express Booking API.

Express Booking is charged based on a CPC model with no percentage commissions. To run advertising campaigns on their platform, Trivago offers the Rate Connect app, which automatically monitors and adjusts your bidding amount in a CPC mechanism. Typical bids vary from $0.1 to $1.30.

Recently, Trivago also launched a CPA pricing model, with hotels being asked to pay between 5-8% of the booking value as commission.

One of the earliest players in travel metasearch that started off in 2004, Kayak is currently owned by the company that runs the single-largest OTA in the world, Booking Holdings. The site operates in nearly 30 countries, offering content in 20 different languages.

There are several subsidiary companies currently under Kayak’s ambit, including travel search companies Swoodoo, Checkfelix, Mundi, and HotelsCombined.

Kayak enables users to search for flights, hotels, car rentals, and travel packages. As with other metasearch providers, hotels must begin by registering themselves on the Hotel Manager page. Here, they can claim a current listing of their property or create a new one.

The platform does not provide any APIs but requires hotels to connect via approved connectivity partners, such as booking engines by SynXis, Mirai, and several others, to relay ARI data.

For advertising on their website, hoteliers can choose from CPC, CPA, and Cost-per-Impression (CPI) models. The platform is preferred by travelers to book travel packages that combine flights and hotels as compared to individual hotel reservations; as such, hotels can boost bookings by teaming up with regional airlines or offering value-added packages.

HotelsCombined

Unlike Kayak, HotelsCombined is an exclusive metasearch platform for hotels, founded in 2005, with its headquarters in Sydney. It is currently operated by Kayak, under their parent company, Booking Holdings.

The HotelsCombined platform is accessible in over 42 languages, accepts payments in 130 currencies, and lists more than 2 million deals on hotels sourced from OTAs and hotel chains across the world.

On this metasearch site, users can also access aggregated reviews and ratings of hotels from multiple websites to aid in decision making.

HotelsCombined also runs an affiliate program, rewarding businesses for incorporating its hotel price comparison service within their websites. Several travel businesses use HotelsCombined to power their hotel search engines, including Ryanair’s hotel comparison service, RyanairHotels.com and the flight comparison site, momondo.com, among others.

In terms of offering connectivity, HotelsCombined works in exactly the same way as Kayak: through connectivity partners.

HotelsCombined was awarded the World’s Leading Hotel Comparison Website award for two years in a row by World Travel Awards and remains a top choice for hotel comparison shopping.

Although Skyscanner originated as a flight aggregation platform in 2003, it has since added car rentals and hotels (in 2013 and 2014, respectively) to its metasearch basket. The platform is currently owned by the Trip.com Group, based in Singapore. A few years back, Skyscanner reached the 100 million milestone of the number of monthly visitors to its site.

Currently, Skyscanner serves around 52 markets and their metasearch platform is available in over 30 different languages.

This platform is especially favored by a younger population base, owing to its travel exploration feature that enables users to discover new destinations with just a departure location and provides the cheapest travel options including when to travel.

Hotels can display their rates, availability, and inventory using the Skyscanner Hotels API. What sets Skyscanner apart from other metasearch sites is the fact that they do not use bidding algorithms to rank search results. Instead, their ranking is purely based on prices.

Nonetheless, the metasearch provider does allow hotels to run targeted ads that appear on search results pages.

When users make a hotel selection, Skyscanner redirects them to the hotel or OTA website to complete the booking. In some cases, the platform offers the Book with Skyscanner feature that lets users complete their reservations within Skyscanner’s website. Any payments made are processed by its parent company, the Trip.com Group.

Wego is a Singapore and Dubai-based metasearch and travel comparison platform that is available in 76 countries and offers content in 22 languages. A majority of its user base is from the Asia Pacific and MENA regions.

As of February 2023, the platform witnessed a massive year-on-year growth of over 150% and its mobile app was the most downloaded travel application in the MENA region with flight and hotel search capabilities.

In terms of inventory, Wego connects with more than 700 travel websites to provide access to over 350,000 hotels and 500 airlines, which also include low-cost carriers , making it a popular choice for users who want to make flight and hotel bookings on the same platform.

Wego’s popular appeal lies in its nifty features that enable users to search for visa-free travel destinations depending on their passports and plan quick weekend getaways to nearby places without spending much time on research.

Managing your presence on metasearch platforms can be a daunting task, especially with multiple pricing models followed by different providers and the need to balance marketing expenses and visibility on these sites. If your hotel is new to metasearch, it is best to begin with Google and Tripadvisor platforms, as they carry the most leverage in this segment.

Voyage Labs offers API integration services for hospitality companies and can help your hotel build seamless integrations with travel metasearch companies. Contact us to know more!

Samuel Corso

Samuel Corso is a software engineer and entrepeneur with deep expertise in systems integrations and reverse-engineering APIs, dating back to his time building commercial ecommerce bots. He's the author of the number one open source project of this kind on GitHub. He also bears unique knowledge of the software infrastructure behind the travel industry. He founded Voyage Labs to help companies unlock cutting-edge software solutions to meet the needs of their customers.

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Travel Resource Series: Part 1 – Flight Search, Comparison & Monitoring Apps & Websites

Erin Miller

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Table of Contents

Airfarewatchdog  , expedia subsidiaries – travelocity , orbitz , cheaptickets , and hotwire.com, google flights, gtfo (get the flight out), holidaypirates, secretflying, studentuniverse, travelzoo/fly.com, tripadvisor (flights), wego flights and hotels, whichbudget.

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Welcome to the first installment of UP’s series on travel resources . In this post, we’re diving into what’s out there in terms of finding flights , comparing flights , and monitoring fares .

Interestingly enough, you’ll find that many of these great resources also include an aspect of travel inspiration, which we all need from time to time! Who wouldn’t want to get lost for hours dreaming of the perfect getaway?

Okay… don’t get too lost before you even begin! Read on fellow adventurers!

airfare monitoring and fare alerts

Airfarewatchdog specializes in airfare monitoring and free fare alerts .

You can include a full route you want to keep an eye on, or simply watch your departure city if you’re not picky about a destination. You’ll get free fare alerts on almost all major airlines including Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska, not to mention other low-cost carriers.

When AFWD checks flights, your results only show fares with a number of available seats. This means routes with virtually no availability aren’t listed, so you aren’t disappointed when you finally get around to booking that ticket!

You can’t book directly on the site, but they’ll tell you how they found the fare you’re itching to purchase. Sidenote: you can also get alerts on hotels.

(FREE – booking fees may apply)

online travel agency (OTA)

Expedia Inc. is the parent company of a very large OTA/travel brand family.

Expedia.com itself is a popular OTA that boasts the best everyday low prices and even better last minute deals with no service fees and no  change fees.

Its flight search is pretty standard, but one of Expedia’s best features is “My Scratchpad.” This works like a sort of digital notepad, which saves recent searches and shows you the cheapest current price and airline for the original dates. It’s also seamless between devices, in case you’re on your laptop one day and your smartphone the next.

Expedia participates in a rewards program called One Key, which can earn you discounts on future bookings (fun tip: you can use these points to book travel for other individuals).

For more info on Expedia itself, check out this dedicated article: How To Use Expedia to Find Great Deals on Flights, Hotels, Vacation Packages (And More)

Hot Tip: A number of the resources listed in this post tend to fall into 2 different categories: online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch engines. These used to be fairly straightforward to define, but as time and technology have progressed, they’ve begun to overlap in many ways. Click here for a more in-depth description of both .

online travel agencies

Platforms: iOS, Android, Web

Since Travelocity , Orbitz , and CheapTickets were acquired by  Expedia in 2015, these OTA websites and apps are very similar in terms of layout and content, while offering identical search results.

For flights, it’s simply your personal preference which to use. Sometimes this may be based on where your loyalties lie; these OTAs have been around for a while, and their customers have too!

Travelocity was founded in 1996, gaining popularity when it became associated with AOL’s travel portal in 1999, when Orbitz was also founded.

In keeping with changing times, these websites and apps are regularly updated and have a reliable overall “4+ star” review rating on iTunes and Google Play.

Hotwire.com, founded in 2000 (acquired by Expedia in 2005), seems to operate semi-independently, which is likely why it has a slightly different layout to its website. Regarding flight searches, though, you’ll find again that identical inventory equals identical results.

Hot Tip: Where Hotwire differs from the other Expedia group OTAs is in hotels. Their Hot Rate ® search results yield slashed prices for “opaque” hotel and rental car listings. To learn more, check out our second UP travel resources post on Accommodations .

travel search site, travel inspiration

Fareness is a great little site that looks at trip planning in an interesting way.

Instead of knowing exactly when and where you want to go, users input general ideas to get some insight into what might be the best trip at the best time based on flight pricing.

The site itself can be a bit of a sensory overload initially, but stick with it – you’ll be happy you did !

Fareness allows users to choose a general Destination Theme (think U.S. cities, Europe, Nightlife, Family, etc), a 1-4 month travel window, and how many days the trip might last. Users are then presented with results from which they can narrow down specifics like dates, airlines, etc.

Users can book directly through the site and Fareness even provides post-booking support if needed.

Another great perk about Fareness?  They don’t flood their page with ads.  They’re 100% dependent on bookings to support their operations.  Pretty respectable if you ask us!

($29 – $98, FREE if they can’t beat your price)

fee-based travel concierge

Flystein is a personalized flight search resource that claims to find the cheapest flights for a small fee.

Users have 2 options for using the site.

“Beat My Price” is pretty self-explanatory: Flystein attempts to beat a price you’ve already found. This comes with a money-back guarantee plus 15% off your next flight search.

“Build my Trip” includes a Flystein search expert who manually searches flights after receiving a description of your preferred travel options. Your choices are noted by a few checkboxes: Can you fly with carry-on luggage only? Are you happy to travel to/from “nearby” airports? Do you want to spend miles/ points?…etc.

You’re provided the final search results and then book the ticket yourself. However, many Flystein experts may also provide booking assistance and general travel advice. The resource allows live chat for all itineraries and voice assistance for those that are a little more complicated.

Hot Tip: Word on the street is Flystein experts often advise for the more comfortable options unless you literally don’t care how you fly. This is a major plus for those who like to travel a bit smarter.

Word to the Wise:  Flystein MAY use throw-away or hidden city ticketing, which is sometimes a buyer-beware option (see our blurb about *skiplagged) .

travel metasearch site, travel inspiration

Yes, Google has a flight search tool… is anyone surprised?

You can certainly search traditionally, but Google too is cashing in on the fact that sometimes users don’t know exactly where or when they want to go; they just know they want to go somewhere at some point in time .

With options to search any destination within any timeframe, the Discover Destinations tool is rather open-ended! Users can also opt for sorting results by certain interests (food, wildlife, etc).

When a destination is selected, users can peruse flights and hotels within Google (with Google Reviews attached, obviously) and are routed through a third party for booking.

You can also save your flights to easily switch between your laptop, cell phone, or tablet while you’re planning.

Hot Tip: The Google Flights interface is pretty “no frills” and fairly user-friendly. If you’re interested in going more in-depth, Upgraded Points has an entire blog post here on how to use the tool.

last minute flight finder

This little app comes in uber handy when you just need to Get The F Out of wherever you are!

Pull up the app, input your departing airport, and GTFO will provide you with relatively cheap last-minute round-trip options departing that day or the next. You can choose the duration of your trip from 2-14 days.

Results are consistently updated, so your morning search may provide different results from your search tonight! Go ahead and GTFO . 

The GTFO app is not available on the app store anymore but you can visit www.gtfoflights.com to view their latest flight deals and sign up to their email newsletter to be the first to hear about them. 

travel inspiration, flight finder, fare alerts

Platforms: iOS, Android

Hitlist’s motto is: “ Dream Big, Fly Cheap, Travel More. ”

This app’s most inspirational features are their “Suggested Trips” and “Explore” sections, which revolve around festivals, events, and activities.

You can also explore categories like Top Romantic Cities to Propose, Adrenaline Junkie, People Watching Places, and so many more fantastic options ! Hitlist’s fares are based from your home airport and are powered by Skyscanner. Prices are categorized as good, great, or spectacular. You’re directed to Skyscanner for flight options   for completion, and HotelTonight or  Airbnb for lodging .

You can also utilize the “Plan a Trip” option and receive fare alerts on flights. With a home airport in place, users can easily peruse weekend getaways, weeklong trips, or longer stays.

Word to the Wise: recent reviews of the Hitlist app state some of the “spectacular” prices are unverified, meaning you may not be able to find that exact low price when you go look for yourself.

travel metasearch engine, trip planning, travel inspiration

Hipmunk is a newer and increasingly popular meta search site.

Flights are ranked using a neat little “agony rating,” which is based on price plus duration (including stops, layover time, etc).

Hipmunk has also been known to pull information outside of commercial flights (like Amtrak and charter flights) to make an itinerary possible – which is pretty fantastic !

Another killer feature? “Hello Hipmunk” is a free virtual travel planning assistant with 2 basic components: Hello Email and Hello Calendar (also integrated for Facebook Messenger and Slack).

Hello Email allows users to e-mail Hipmunk directly or loop Hipmunk into established threads by asking basic questions like: “Can you find me a flight from ORD to MIA for April 14 – 17?” Users can even input preferences like “Please show me nonstop flights only,” or “I’d like to stick with American Airlines .” If you’re not sure on plans, Hello Hipmunk also answers general questions: “What’s the best time to travel to Portland?” or “Where’s the best Wine Country destination in June?”

Hello Calendar aims to anticipate users’ travel needs via periodically scanning Google Calendars and noting any activities penciled in for other cities. When found, Hello Hipmunk sends personalized flight, hotel, and rental car information to ease the pain of planning. Hey, we told you it was awesome !

travel metasearch engine*

Platforms: Web

Claiming “Deals on a Pirate’s Budget,” this travel resource was born out of a young German student’s blog about how he traveled utilizing great deals.

Reportedly the largest vacation planning website in Germany , HolidayPirates is now widely used across 9 other countries in Europe and beyond. Although the U.S. version, TravelPirates, launched in 2016, it appears the best travel options are still geared toward the E.U., with Europe-based airlines providing the most deals.

HP claims to only publish deals that are of “good value for money,” including flights, hotels, train tickets, cruises, and packages.  Some reviewers state HP is especially adept at finding “error fares” (fares listed by mistake, which airlines are still required to honor).

Word to the Wise: While HolidayPirates claims to be a team of “online laborers” who “mostly hunt for bargains by hand,” when users perform a flight search on the website, it clearly states the search is powered by Kayak. This leaves us just a tad confused…

airfare predictor

Hopper helps you “Know When to Fly and Buy.”

One of Upgraded Points’ favorite apps , Hopper presents an extremely user-friendly interface. Enter your departure and arrival airports, and Hopper draws up a calendar showing color-coded days of the month related to flight prices.

You can also “watch” a trip by selecting the dates you’re thinking about flying. Hopper will help you decide if you should buy or wait, tell you how much you could potentially save by heeding their advice and show you price predictions over the next couple of weeks/months. They can also send you alerts when flights are at the most desirable rate to purchase! Hopper states that users save an average of $50 per flight.

Hopper pulls data from almost all major airline fares, and you can shop flights AND book directly from the app – which is rare .

Hot Tip: Hopper claims their flight price predictions are 95% accurate. How does it work? They reportedly combine the best possible historical pricing data with current crowd-sourced data to accurately predict price variations.

software system

The ITA Matrix is basically the operating software that most travel companies ( Expedia , Priceline , Kayak , etc.) use to compose your flight pricing results.

We’re not even going to try to explain the engineering behind how this works; if the Matrix looks confusing, you can see our guide here .

You can’t book directly through the tool since it’s just software, but the easiest options at this time are: Bookwithmatrix.com (just copy/paste your itinerary) and Hipmunk (they utilize ITA Matrix codes in their app). You can also use the codes given to book directly with airlines or travel agents.

If you choose to go through an online travel agency, you may have to do some looking around to find the same fares the Matrix found. Note that some budget airlines like Southwest and Allegiant are excluded .

travel metasearch engine

Jetradar claims to be “the fastest travel search engine on the web,” drawing results from more than 1043 airlines and 200+ booking agencies for flights, hotels, cars, and busses.

Jetradar is similar to other travel metasearch engines in filters and sorted results. However, they supposedly differ in that they often produce results which include “magic fares” for flights. Intrigued? We were!

When users see a result with a magic wand symbol, this denotes the Magic Fare. Jetradar claims this Magic Fare is listed at a price other metasearch engines and OTAs can’t find – and it’s cheaper by up to 30% .

Hot Tip: If you’re wondering how these fares are possible, Jetradar explains a bit here . Even still, we’re not exactly sure how this works… after all, it’s MAGIC!

travel metasearch engine, flight tracker, airport navigation

Platforms: iOS (incl Apple watch), Android, Web

Kayak – the “Old Trusty” of metasearch engines – is widely known, user-friendly, and generally well reviewed for good reason .

While Kayak provides a pretty standard search in terms of filters, results now include some budget airlines like Allegiant (though others like Southwest continue to hold out).

Kayak includes price alerts for any changes that may occur, and app users get a flight tracker, gate information, airport security wait times, turn-by-turn navigation within the airport to their gate, and airport info such as restaurants, shops, and what’s available inside and outside of security checkpoints.

Another quick tidbit: Kayak is a subsidiary of Priceline .

Hot Tip: Obviously this is the “flight” portion of the series, but Kayak has a great little feature for accommodations as well. Check out our second resource series post on accommodations to find out what’s so neat about it!

Word To The Wise: Some users have voiced complaints that paid ads on the website can look like search results, which might be misleading to the consumer – so peruse carefully!

formerly Skypicker (FREE)

online travel agency

Kiwi.com is an OTA focused solely on flights using their “groundbreaking Virtual Interlining technology.”

Now that’s a mouthful. What exactly IS Virtual Interlining technology?

Kiwi.com finds the cheapest fares by capitalizing on connections between airlines that usually don’t cooperate with each other. This allows Kiwi to pick the cheapest leg of each trip from each airline and combine them for some pretty great savings .

If you miss a flight, Kiwi.com offers a guarantee (within reasonable restrictions) that usually results in a rebooked flight for no extra fee.

While you can search and book direct flights with Kiwi, the “interlining” only works if you’re on a flight with a connection…so this isn’t the best tool for travelers who prefer direct flights.

Also, check out our “Word to the Wise” for potential issues with luggage/ visas .

Hot Tip: In the future, Kiwi hopes to offer transportation between airports (e.g. if one flight lands in London Heathrow but your next leaves from London Gatwick), which would be a big plus!

Word to the Wise: Luggage must be retrieved and re-checked at each airport between connecting flights, even if you’re continuing with the same budget airline. While Kiwi attempts to schedule a minimum of 2 hours for each layover, the FAQ states: “The re-checking process means leaving the transit zone to pick up your baggage, delivering it to the next airline counter, and then passing through security and immigration. This means there are visa implications for some passengers so please book your flights with care.”

travel metasearch engine, travel inspiration

A widely used metasearch engine for travel, Momondo initially jumps out at users due to its colorful interface with a few helpful tools.

On the search results page, Momondo includes an easy-to-read bar graph at the top showing the estimated cost of your ticket from a week pre/post your search dates. They also have the ability to sort results by timetable, which gives an interesting viewpoint if you’re picky about the time of day you depart.

Another neat tool (for flight geeks like ourselves) is Momondo’s “flight insight” link toward the top of the page, which aggregates hundreds of thousands of fares and displays a tidy little pie graph showing what factors influence the price of your flight, e.g. seasonality, days to departure, airline, time of day, and day of week.

Lastly, Momondo has recently introduced “Trip Finder.”

This tool revolves around a simple set of drop down menus for trip inspiration (currently with options flying from 7 popular U.S. cities). Users can search flights to “anything” (including cities, nightlife, beaches, etc), flights to “anywhere” (including general continents), and flights “anytime” (including months of the year). Finally, users input their budget, search, and are presented with various results that can be further sorted by options like cheapest, local, romantic, most popular, etc.

Hot Tip: With Momondo, you can also sort your results by alliance (e.g. Oneworld , SkyTeam , or Star Alliance ), which is helpful for those travelers collecting points or miles with a specific group!

Word to the Wise:  A lot of reviews we’ve read claim Momondo is pretty reliable for simple routes, but leaves a bit to be desired for more complex routes.

(FREE – app & web search; booking fees may apply)

Priceline is another main player in the OTA marketplace.

While users can choose the traditional method of search, what originally set Priceline apart was their “Name Your Own Price” tool. However, this product was cut in Sept 2016, which means no more bidding for flights.

Instead, Priceline states they will continue to offer deep discounts through their “Express Deals” product. With this program, Priceline claims deals of up to 50% off published rates . However , similar to NYOP, these are “opaque” listings, meaning users do not see the airline carrier or itinerary until immediately after purchase.

This makes booking short trips fairly risky . However, if you’re looking for deep discounts on flights and aren’t particular about airline or flight times, this could be one way to go. Priceline also offers this option for hotels and rental cars. Like other OTAs, you can likely secure further discounts if you package these together.

flight pricing errors and flash sales

Let us tell you right now, SecretFlying is addictive!

This company is scraping the web 24/7 for flight pricing errors and flash sales. (For example, they recently posted an error sale from Paris , France to Japan, returning to London, U.K. for only €284 roundtrip!)

In order to reap the benefits, users need to act fast as these errors/sales can be quickly resolved, changed, or sold out! You also have to be pretty darned flexible, since you’ll have to purchase in an instant, and some of the more widely available deals are for quickly approaching travel dates.

There is no sign-up necessary , but you can subscribe to a daily newsletter if you want deals straight to your inbox, or follow on Facebook or Twitter if that’s more your style.

You can also download the app for instant alerts on deals from your home departure airport.

flight metasearch engine (based on hidden-city and throw-away tickets)

Skiplagged claims: “We’re better at finding cheap flights than anyone else – so good, United Airlines actually sued us for it.” Welp… that’s pretty much true.

Skiplagged does this by using “hidden-city ticketing” and “throw-away tickets.” Let’s define some terms here.

A hidden-city fare is one where you book a trip from Point A to Point C with a layover in the city you actually want to go to (Point B), and simply never take the second leg of your flight.

Why would you do this ?

Sometimes the fare from Point A to Point C with a layover at Point B is actually cheaper than just going direct from A to B.

Example: Say you want to go from Miami, FL to Charlotte, NC. Flights from Miami to New Orleans via Charlotte are cheaper (by a lot) than Miami direct to Charlotte. Users will want to travel with carry-on baggage only, since any checked luggage would be sent through to the final destination.

You’re probably wondering, wait… is this legal? See our “Word to the Wise” below.

Additionally, Skiplagged knows conventional flights are cheaper than hidden city flights at times.  That’s why their unique search algorithm also finds the cheapest regular/conventional flights to compare!

Also worth noting – they’ve recently introduced a hotel search which has special “Skiplagged Rates” for many popular hotels around the world.

Word to the Wise: While this practice isn’t technically illegal, it may be against an airline’s rules and regulations. It’s certainly frowned upon since you run the risk of violating the “contract of carriage,” which states in part that you shouldn’t miss a flight on purpose. Some reviewers state that if an airline finds out you’re doing this regularly, you could have your frequent flyer account shut down, your miles taken away, or be banned from traveling with an airline altogether. Since we haven’t verified these claims, as always, if you choose to book through Skiplagged, you’re traveling at your own risk!

Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Web

Skyscanner is yet another metasearch engine for flights, hotels, and car hire.

With search results including both full-service and budget airlines (read: Southwest, Allegiant, etc.), Skyscanner scrapes over 1,200 airlines and travel sites to provide a very comprehensive set of fares.

Skyscanner also gives users the ability to “Explore Top Deals” for weekend getaways or longer trips both nationally and internationally (select “everywhere” in your destination box if you aren’t quite sure where you might like to go).

Additionally, Skyscanner offers brief yet informative travel guides for over 60 international cities .

Hot Tip: If you’re a company looking to ease the pain of searching and booking business travel, Skyscanner has introduced TravelPro, which is a resource that aims to manage business travel “simply and efficiently for free.”

online travel agency (geared towards students)

StudentUniverse is another OTA that generally markets to students, claiming to “work directly with airlines every day to find you the cheapest student flights and provide unmatchable deals.”

SU states they negotiate specifically for students through contracts with over 70 airlines and partners in order to provide uniquely discounted fares.

While most deals apply solely to students, there are some available for faculty members, and even for alumni if you’re still considered of “youth” age (~18-25).

SU provides both individual and group travel rates, and you can book directly through the site/app. To get the deals, users must create an account to verify they are in fact a student, faculty member, or young alumnus at a degree-granting college.

online travel agency/travel metasearch engine

Unlike traditional OTA sites, TravelZoo bases their general theme on expertly chosen travel deals.

You can see that right away from their clean and inviting web and app interfaces.

TravelZoo employs “Deal Experts” that research over 1,000 companies worldwide to find outstanding options for travel, entertainment, and local deals. Experts review and negotiate for these deals to be sure they’re verified and ready for you to book.

TravelZoo also offers a “Top 20 ® ” section, which is a “best of the best” list that’s updated weekly. While you can search for flights on the TravelZoo website, you’re routed through Fly.com (a metasearch site built by TravelZoo) for booking.

Whaaaaat? Yep, you can now book flights with TripAdvisor!

Some interesting aspects of TripAdvisor flights are Airline Reviews and FlyScore. Just as users would do previously on TA, they can now leave reviews for flights…we’re personally hoping this doesn’t turn into a bloodbath.

Similar to other metasearch site tools, FlyScore is TA’s nifty little option to list the best flights in terms of cheapest price + shortest duration + least hassle. Fare results can also be filtered by alliance if users are looking to earn points with a specific airline group, and even filtered by amenities like Wifi, lay-flat seats, etc.

With the addition of flight search, TripAdvisor is certainly living up to its new motto: know better, book better, go better .

Hot Tip: For a better description of TripAdvisor and its more traditional activity planning/review vibe, head over to this article !

Wego is a metasearch engine specifically geared toward flights/hotels in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Providing results based on information from OTAs and consolidators as well as directly through airlines and larger hotel chains, Wego is said to draw from over 700 different travel sites . In addition to metasearch, Wego also runs a pretty fun and informative blog. You can check it out here .

Word to the Wise: Some users report the online version taking a significant amount of time to load. Tread carefully before selecting a fare, as it may not be the absolute lowest price if the web page hasn’t loaded in its entirety.

(FREE – web search; booking fees may apply)

budget-based travel search with booking capability

“Where You Can Go, for What You Can Spend.” Still in its beta version, Wherefor is a company that’s offering a great new take on travel searches .

Users simply enter their fixed budget for flights and hotel, the number of persons traveling, dates, and the departure city.

Advanced filter options can specify if you prefer a budget, standard, or luxury hotel. Wherefor then provides users with a map pinpointing various destinations they can travel to within their budget (and sometimes under budget – yahoo!).

Once a destination is selected, Wherefor shows users the cheapest flight and the highest-rated hotel, which can be booked together or separately.

Another entertaining feature of Wherefor lets users search by interests (categories like beaches, pet-friendly, wine lovers, etc). Wherefor also offers a 24hr refund policy and lowest price guarantee .

Hot Tip: If you’re pressed for cash, Wherefor offers financing so you can pay for your trip over 12 months with 0% interest. We don’t know any other search tool that does this!

Word to the Wise:  The estimated flight cost includes taxes and fees, but the nightly hotel rate does not (which seems a bit strange to us). Be sure to cover all your bases when you calculate so you don’t end up above your budget!

Word to the Wise: Right now, Wherefor only shows hotels, not hostels or AirBnB options that can sometimes be cheaper.

flight metasearch engine

You can probably derive the aim of WhichBudget simply from the name: a travel metasearch engine that includes budget airlines sometimes left out of other search results .

When users enter their departure city, WhichBudget immediately shows the cheapest flights from that airport to many different destinations, without having to enter a timeframe. This at least gives a good idea of where it may be cheapest to fly in general, in case you’re not quite sure when you’re available to travel but want to start thinking about possible destinations.

Word to the Wise: Some users have voiced frustration due to pricing mismatches when linked to outside sites to book, e.g. the WhichBudget price isn’t reflected on the booking site. Similarly, when you’re rerouted through an outside link but want to return to your WhichBudget search, your preferences are lost and you have to begin again.

If we’ve left out one of your favorite flight search, comparison, or monitoring resources, give us a shout! We love continually adding to our arsenal of information.

Interested in more great resources? Check out our series list here .

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Some of our favorite places to find flight deals are Skyscanner, Google Flights, Momondo, and Skiplagged.

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Metasearch engines and how they work in the hospitality industry

Eva Lacalle

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Metasearch engines started off as a way for potential guests to compare hotel room prices across different booking websites all in one place. Over the years, these engines have evolved from a simple pay-per-click model to a commission-per-booking model. Internet omni-presences like Google and TripAdvisor now offer instant booking options, in which they charge hotels a commission for any bookings made on their sites. In this article we will first look in detail at what a metasearch engine is, what it does, and how it works. We will then explore how you can connect your hotel to these engines, the most popular ones, and the difference between them and OTAs, as well as give you some tips in order to use them to increase your revenue.

Table of contents

What is a metasearch engine?

A metasearch engine is a comparison tool used by travelers to compare rates across different hotels in a given destination. This unique search engine sends the user’s request to other search engines and compiles the results in one easy-to use list that facilitates a convenient booking process. Travelers can compare rates immediately and see availability in real-time.

Metasearch engines present a way of streamlining your hotel’s marketing and distribution efforts all in one place because it can be used as both a booking channel and a place to advertise your hotel. Furthermore, they represent a big opportunity for hotels because guests can find rooms and book instantly, facilitating last minute bookings.

What does a metasearch engine do and how does it work?

A metasearch engine collects prices from a variety of sources , allowing potential guests to find the best rate from the best site at the same time. Hotels can pay for placement on this list and try to convince users to reserve through their respective platforms. This is done using a cost-per-click (CPC) or pay-per-click (PPC) model.

This type of search engine can be an incredibly useful tool to grow the hotel’s business and reach a large number of travelers all at once. Travelers are drawn to these booking engines because prices are transparent, they can see all the options at once, and they can do everything all in one place: search, compare and reserve. Using this tool together with a hotel booking system software is without a doubt a recipe for success. You will get visibility, and the chance for global distribution, allowing you to maximize revenue by generating more leads and bookings.

How to connect your hotel to a metasearch engine?

Connecting your hotel to a metasearch engine is easy to do. It’s important to keep in mind that not all of them use the same model, so you should do their research before deciding which one to connect their property to. First things first, no business can go without connecting to the two most powerful engines: Google and Tripadvisor .

Google has a series of products such as Google Hotel Ads and Google Hotel Finder. The Ads rely on data feeds that communicate to Google about the hotel rooms you offer and a bidding system, which tells Google how much you are willing to pay for each booking generated. In order to connect to and use these tools, it’s recommended to have a third party integration partner to assist with entering rates and availability, and managing successful ad campaigns to avoid technical barriers. With the exception of Google, you can connect to the other engines by having a channel manager that allows you to partner with the different distribution agents. A PMS or a CRS will also allow you to connect directly to the most important metasearch giants as well as monitor your KPIs of these channels.

What are the most popular metasearch engines?

There are several big players when it comes to metasearch, such as Google, Tripadvisor, Trivago, Skyscanner, and Hotels Combined. As mentioned previously, Hoteliers have no choice but to be on Google and TripAdvisor but the other engines discussed below can also serve as powerful tools to reach other segments.

Skyscanner is a metasearch engine and travel agency, which allows potential guests to research and book travel options, including hotels. Skyscanner is a popular tool in particular for the millennial segment.

Google Hotels

Google Hotels is arguably the most important metasearch engine. The Google Hotel Search works with Google Maps and gmail to offer personalized results to travelers. Guests can price track and access deals directly from their inbox. Hotels can start using this monster engine by creating a Google My Business Account if you don’t have it already; this way you will appear in the Google Maps view.

Kayak Hotels

KAYAK is an online travel agency that’s a part of Booking.com. Kayak is best used to get combined rates for accomodation and flights. Hotels, unfortunately, don’t get a high share of ad placements on this metasearch engine, but making a deal with an airline or offering special packages through Kayak could be a good solution to make the most out of this tool.

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is without a doubt one of the most popular and well-known travel websites. Your business is almost as if it doesn’t exist if it’s not on Tripadvisor. This engine offers the ability to book direct hotel reservations and do comparison shopping. Make sure you have an account set up from the moment your hotel opens because having a presence here is fundamental.

Hotels Combined

HotelsCombined, also a part of Booking Holdings, is a metasearch engine out of Australia. It aggregates more than 2 million deals from different hotel chains and travel sites. This is a good tool to use for those hotels looking to offer deals.

Trivago is a popular engine for hotels and was consistently one of the big players before Google started to overtake the metasearch field. It sifts through hotel rates and availability provided by different booking sites, showing the aggregated results in one place. The booking sites pay them a fee if the user clicks on the specific deal, which leads to good revenue possibilities for your hotel.

Tips using a hotel metasearch engine

Because there are so many different hotel metasearch engines out there, it’s hard to know how to manage them. With the following tips your hotel can develop a strategy that will boost revenue and make metasearch your best friend.

Show all room rates

Showing all room rates instead of just the cheapest one creates a sense of trust amongst your clients. If clients can see all the rates at once, they won’t think that you’re just showing them the cheapest rate to draw them in. Not only does showing all room rates at once help build trust, but it also gives more options to book, and increase your chances of upselling better rooms with a sea view or a suite, as well as packages.

Different sites require different strategies

Using different strategies for different sites is especially true for the top engines like Google and Tripadvisor. While Google has a really high conversion rate, it is also expensive so you must be mindful of your advertising budget and keep optimizing campaigns so as to make the most of your budget and generate the most revenue.

On the other hand, Skyscanner is very popular amongst millennials, so if you are targeting millennials, be sure to get the most out of this engine. Tripadvisor, while very popular and important for getting traffic, is more for casual browsing. It doesn’t tend to generate a lot of conversions. Keeping this in mind, you may want to set a low cost-per-click rate to make the most out of your marketing budget on Tripadvisor.

Keep rates the same across engines

Before beginning with these types of engines, an important place to start is with benchmarking. Check out the competition and see what rates they are offering. Then set your prices, and make sure the price matches the rate that appears on your website’s direct booking site. On your own site you can experiment with different direct booking deals, but make sure that the rates don’t fluctuate too much, and above all, make sure that the rates are the same across all metasearch tools.

Keep your priorities straight

Since there are so many metasearch tools out there, it’s important to set your priorities straight (and your budget). It’s impossible to be everywhere and depending on your budget, you may be able to advertise with all, or only some, of the potential channels. Research your target market and find out which engines they are using. If you’re only going to choose a few, make sure you choose those that are accommodation-focused . Google and Tripadvisor are musts, but maybe when prioritizing, you will want to choose to advertise on those that are the most specifically for hotels.

Your software decisions are key

As with anything in the hotel industry, having a hotel PMS or CRS that is reliable and gives you the ability to integrate with metasearch engines directly is key to optimizing your performance and revenue that you generate. You need to make your life easier and streamline processes and the right software decisions will help make working with metasearch engines easy, and give you the data you need to evaluate how these tools are working for your business.

What’s the difference between metasearch engines and OTAs?

The key difference between metasearch engines and OTAs is that metasearch engines aggregate information whereas OTAs sell inventory . Online travel agencies are a way of optimizing your advertising budget by handling distribution and allowing potential clients to book directly from their website. Typically commissions are high, between 10-20%, depending on the size and volume of your structure.

Metasearch engines, on the other hand, display rates for hotels around the world, allowing clients to easily compare rates, but not actually selling that available inventory. The commissions also tend to be a lot lower than those of an OTA, despite the fact that they are just as popular. While some engines, such as Google and TripAdvisor now allow clients to book directly, this wasn’t initially the case.

Regardless of the difference between the two tools, it's important to be on both, it’s a way of optimizing revenue and giving your structure the potential of maximum visibility. Yes, they both take commissions, but you will without a doubt reach clients that you wouldn’t otherwise reach, thanks to their extensive marketing budgets.

As we’ve discussed throughout this article, metasearch engines are becoming one of the most important tools in the hospitality industry. We’ve looked at what they are, how to connect your hotel to them, the most popular ones and tips to making the most out of them.

While there are many popular engines, the two most important ones are without a doubt Google and Tripadvisor, so make sure to invest some of your marketing budget and once you hit that sweet spot, you can use them in order to maximize revenue.

Eva has over a decade of international experience in marketing, communication, events and digital marketing. When she's not at work, she's probably surfing, dancing, or exploring the world.

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• Go Beyond Google: The Best Alternative Search Engines for 2024

Are you worried about anticompetitive practices or privacy, or maybe you just want new search results? These 15 search engines beat Google in many ways, from anonymous browsing to curated content.

Brave Search

Microsoft Bing

A judge has ruled that Google has a monopoly on online search because it paid partners to make its search engine the default on phones and mobile browsers. But you don’t have to use Google , and there are many reasons not to. Though Google is familiar to everyone, it doesn’t need to know every detail about you and profit from your information . Alternative search engines often give you more privacy and sometimes come with other benefits as well, such as rewards or donations to worthy causes based on how much you search. The quality of results between Google and other search engines used to be a real issue, but now you’d be hard-pressed to find much difference. The greatest contrast you're likely to notice is the ranking of the top results. We've tested the top alternative search engines and find the ones below to be worth your consideration.

You Can Trust Our Reviews

Deeper dive: our top tested picks.

AOL is still in the web portal game, giving you a start page showing curated hot topics in the news, entertainment, health, sports, food, and finance. But you can use it just as a web search engine as well. This offering features a slick interface, optional content filtering of potentially offensive material, and good image search filters. It's not the most private search in the world: location and activity tracking are turned on by default, but you can disable those from a Privacy Dashboard. AOL and Yahoo are one in the same company, so your web results will likely be the same in both, but they have different interface tools.

Coming from the innovative creators of the privacy-focused Brave web browser, Brave Search claims “unmatched privacy.” In my testing using the EFF’s Cover Your Tracks Tools, Brave was the most private browser , so the claim has some weight behind it. When I enter a search in Brave Search, my ad-and-tracker blocker, uBlock, doesn’t report anything to block. Brave gets its results both from its own web crawling index and “anonymous API calls to third parties.” Brave now gives you a choice of AI-powered or standard web results via its Answer With AI button. A Discussions section on the result page features content from Reddit and the like. Finally, Brave's Goggles feature lets you filter your results with parameters like No Celebrity content or News from the Left or Right.

The biggest name in private search deserves your attention. DuckDuckGo (DDG) has a simple privacy policy: “We don’t collect or share any of your personal information.” The search interface is simple, and results are on target, though they lack the extensive info panels found in Bing and Google. DDG lets you search for images, videos, news, maps, and shopping results. A nice touch is that DDG adds more header options depending on the search term, such as Definition, Meanings, Nutrition, and Recipes.

My tracker blocker uBlock reported trackers on DuckDuckGo result pages, though they were from DDG itself. For the ultimate in privacy, DDG offers a Tor .onion version of its search engine. If you like this search engine, check out its browser, too.

Ecosia makes people feel good about their web searches because it contributes to planting trees in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecosia's program has planted more than 180 million trees to date, in collaboration with local environmental organizations around the world. This search site doesn’t deliver the most polished results pages, but I can find what I need nearly all the time.

In terms of privacy, the site says it does not "create personal profiles of you based on your search history" and anonymizes all searches within one week. uBlock Origin did find (and block) some Bing trackers, but the site is upfront about using cookies, which you can disable. Those tree bills don’t pay themselves.

Gibiru may not have the slickest interface, special tools, or unique search features—or revenue sharing—but in its bare-bones interface, you can get your familiar old Google results without the activity tracking that Google engages in when you use its site. You can switch your search results between All Results and Censored Content (though it would make sense to give you another option in case you don't want to see adult images and potentially offensive content). The company also has a mobile private web browser called Gibiru Wormhole, and a VPN .

Bottom Line:

• Excellent search results.
• Helpful vertical search for travel, music, images, local, video and more.
• Social network integration better than Google's.
• Reward points get you free stuff.
• Not quite as fast as Google.
• No date range search.
• Google translates more languages.

Mojeek is a UK-based search engine with a focus on privacy. Its index is completely built in-house, though it's considerably smaller than Bing's or Google's. The results are occasionally in an unexpected order, but you can usually find what you want. One clever feature is Mojeek's search by emotions, which uses deep machine learning to analyze the feels of a webpage. You enter your search term and then choose whether you want a result that’s happy, angry, sad, and so on. It also lets you search for images courtesy of Bing and Pixabay. A couple more differentiators are its custom Focus searches (for example, recipe search) and its Substack article search.

Mojeek doesn't have a lot in the way of prepackaged, graphically designed answers like you get with other search sites. For example, searching for Major League Baseball scores still just shows links. Some result pages do have a Wikipedia card, matching what a lot of higher-profile search sites do. In terms of Mojeek's security and privacy, uBlock didn't find any trackers it needed to block, and the site claims to be the first with a privacy policy stating that it doesn’t track you or sell your data.

Privacy is the real mission of this decentralized, Web3 search site. Presearch is the only service listed here that doesn’t run on a single company’s servers, instead anonymizing your queries with distributed nodes so your information isn’t saved by any single provider. My uBlock tracking cookie blocker found nothing to block with Presearch.

If you sign in to an account, you can customize the search provider buttons from an extensive list, including Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Google. Signing in also lets you earn Presearch’s Ethereum-based crypto token, PRE, though only if you stick with Presearch's own search engine, and there are caps on how much cryptocurrency you can earn each day. Anyone can run a node server in the distributed system to earn PRE rewards, and advertisers use PRE when bidding on keywords. Be aware that there are a lot of user reviews online claiming the inability to withdraw their PRE tokens, however, so go for the decentralization and multi-search; don't expect a financial reward. I've had better luck with Bing Rewards on that front.

From the EU comes the anti-Google search service Qwant. Qwant has an appealing design and uses its own indexing robots to scan webpages for results, though it makes use of APIs from Microsoft Bing, Twitter, YouTube, and iTunes. Maps are based on the open-source OpenMapTiles , and you can privately save your map history. Qwant also makes a kid-friendly version of its search site, called Qwant Junior.

When using Qwant, users can be certain that their browsing history isn’t stored, they aren’t profiled, and they aren’t targeted through personalized ads. Though uBlock showed several tracker cookies it deemed worthy of blocking, they were all from the qwant.com domain because it appeared in one of uBlock’s block lists. The site clearly states, “We do not track or collect our users' data…When using Qwant, users can be certain that their browsing history isn’t stored, they aren’t profiled, and that they aren’t targeted through personalized ads.” 

Seekr has an original take on search, but now it's just for news stories. It uses machine learning to rate results on reliability and ideology. The result pages show whether each link leans right, left, or center. It also shows a result’s reliability, meaning whether it’s clickbait or uses an exaggerated title. For news results, you can use sliders to filter for higher reliability or left or right political leans. Since Seekr's evaluations are algorithmically based, they work on any English-language websites around the world. Seekr doesn’t yet rate non-English sites but has that on its roadmap.

The company claims it’s building its own web index, but it uses Bing for map results. Seekr isn’t really a privacy-focused search service. uBlock found four tracking cookies worth blocking, among many others deposited. The company’s privacy policy states that it may share your data with “business partners to improve the quality of advertising you see.”

Seva is Sanskrit for "selfless service." Like Swisscows and Ecosia, Seva's aim is to turn your search into donations to charitable causes—its twist is to have you organize into teams for this fundraising. The site lets you donate to the following charities: Best Friends Animal Society, Eden Reforestation Project, Elliot For Water, Ocean Heart, SaveUkraine.org, St. Jude’s, and World Food Program. For privacy, the site doesn't track or store your searches. Its results are very bare-bones, without the cards and helper content you find in the bigger names in search, and it passes image, video, and news on to Google. Maybe that's why the uBlock Origin tracker blocker extension found lots of Google trackers to block on a Seva result page.

Startpage uses privatized Google search results. The company makes a bold claim, saying it's the world’s most private search engine. You get choices of Web, Images, Videos, and News when searching. Its Anonymous View option lets you click on a mask icon next to a result to view the found web page via a proxy server, without providing any data about yourself to the site you’re visiting—except to Startpage itself. Before sending the query, Startpage removes your IP address and any other info and only then submits the query. The uBlock ad- and tracker blocker only blocks Startpage's own ads and finds no third-party trackers.

Switzerland-based Swisscows offers a VPN , a private messaging app, and private email as well as this privacy-focused search site that donates to worthy causes when you use it. Nefarious sites and adult content are not included in Swisscows’ results, so it’s a good choice for younger users. In addition to having the typical Web, Images, and Video search result filters across the top, Swisscows has a Music option, which lets you play tunes from the free Soundcloud service. On the result page, you can use a clever Anonymous preview so that the found site you want to visit doesn’t know you’re viewing it. It’s just an image of the site that’s not clickable, but you can read a whole page without any tracking. uBlock Origin didn’t have to block any suspicious trackers, a good sign for privacy.

The once-dominant and later-derided Yahoo Search has gotten its act together lately. The main Yahoo page has a search box at the top and panels for news, weather, sports, and trending searches, plus a button for the company’s storied email service. If you head to search.yahoo.com, you now see a simpler page with trending searches and buttons for Yahoo's other services, including the highly regarded Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo's search result pages feature quick answers, though not in as quite a polished format as Bing and Google. That said, among the services included here, Yahoo Search has the fullest answer pages after those two big players. Yahoo uses Bing to power search results, though it also has its own technology for a panel of Trending searches and other features. uBlock Origin blocks trackers from both Google and Bing, though Yahoo's maps are provided by the excellent open-source Open Maps service.

Like Patreon and similar platforms, Yep lets you tip your favorite online content creators. The difference is that you can earn lucre to use for this purpose through searching. Yep devotes 90% of its search ad revenue to this purpose. Lest you think Yep comes out of the blue, it was created by a founder of the prominent  Ahrefs  SEO tool and, in fact, uses that service for its web-crawling data. The search engine doesn't store or share any personally identifiable private info. Finally, Yep also includes an AI chatbot. Though the company doesn't disclose what powers that, its results resembled those in Microsoft Copilot, which is based on ChatGPT.

Buying Guide: Go Beyond Google: The Best Alternative Search Engines for 2024

Optimize your browsing.

For more web browsing goodness, see our list of the best web browsers and the best web browsers for privacy .

More Inside PCMag.com

• Beyond Chrome and Safari: The Best Alternative Web Browsers for 2024
• Stop Trackers Dead: The Best Private Browsers for 2024
• Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, or Safari: Which Browser Is Best for 2024?

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PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine , the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11.

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Plane crashes in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, killing all 61 aboard, airline says

A plane with 61 people aboard crashed in a fiery wreck in a residential area of a city in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, the airline said, but it was not immediately clear how many people were injured or killed.

A plane with 62 people aboard crashed in a fiery wreck in a residential area of a city in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, the airline said, but it was not immediately clear how many people were injured or killed. (AP Video: Tatiana Pollastri)

This frame grab from video shows fire coming from a plane that crashed by a home in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho via AP)

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This frame grab from video shows wreckage from a plane that crashed by a home in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho via AP)

Locator map showing the departure, destination and crash sites of a Brazilian commercial airplane that crashed on Friday Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Digital Embed)

Police guard the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A refrigerated truck from the fire department arrives at the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Police patrol the street leading to the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Police stand along the street leading to the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Brigadier Marcelo Moreno, head of the National Air Accident Investigation Center, gives a press conference about the Vinhedo plane crash, at his headquarters in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Police vehicles used to carry bodies arrive at the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

VINHEDO, Brazil (AP) — A passenger plane crashed into a gated residential community in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, killing all 61 people aboard and leaving a smoldering wreck, officials and the airline said.

Officials did not say if anyone was killed on the ground in the neighborhood where the plane landed in the city of Vinhedo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the metropolis of Sao Paulo. But witnesses at the scene said there were no victims among local residents.

The airline Voepass said that its plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos with 57 passengers and 4 crew members aboard when it crashed in Vinhedo. It provided a flight manifest with passenger names, but not their nationalities. A prior statement had said there were 58 passengers.

“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site,” Voepass said in a statement. “At this time, Voepass is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident.”

It was the deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

At an event in southern Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news. Friday evening, he declared three days of mourning.

The state’s firefighters, military police and civil defense authority dispatched teams to the location. Sao Paulo’s public security secretary Guilherme Derrite spoke to reporters and confirmed that no survivors had been found. He also said the plane’s black box was recovered.

“I thought it was going to fall in our yard,” a resident and witness who gave her name only as Ana Lucia de Lima told reporters near the crash site. “It was scary, but thank God there were no victims among the locals. It seems that the 62 people inside the plane were the real victims, though.”

Parana state’s Gov. Ratinho Júnior told journalists in Vinhedo that many of the passengers were doctors from his state attending a seminar.

“They were people who were used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” Júnior said, adding he had friends aboard. “It is a sad day.”

Video obtained from a witness by The Associated Press and verified shows at least two bodies strewn about flaming pieces of wreckage.

Brazilian television network GloboNews showed aerial footage of an area with smoke coming out of an obliterated plane fuselage. Additional footage on GloboNews earlier showed the plane plunging in a flat spin.

A report from television network Globo’s meteorological center said it “confirmed the possibility of the formation of ice in the region of Vinhedo,” and local media cited analysts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the crash.

But aviation expert Lito Sousa cautioned that meteorological conditions alone might not be enough to explain why the plane fell as it did.

“Analyzing an air crash just with images can lead to wrong conclusions about the causes,” Sousa told the AP by phone. “But we can see a plane with loss of support, no horizontal speed. In this flat spin condition, there’s no way to reclaim control of the plane.”

And Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, told reporters Friday night that, while there were forecasts for ice, they were within acceptable levels for the aircraft.

Likewise, Lt. Col. Carlos Henrique Baldi, of the Brazilian air force’s center for the investigation and prevention of air accidents, told reporters in a late afternoon press conference that it was still too early to confirm whether ice caused the accident.

The plane is “certified in several countries to fly in severe icing conditions, including in countries unlike ours, where the impact of ice is more significant,” said Baldi, who heads the center’s investigation division.

In an earlier statement, the center said that the plane’s pilots didn’t call for help nor say they were operating under adverse weather conditions.

In a separate statement, Brazil’s Federal Police said it already had begun its investigation, and had dispatched specialists in plane crashes and the identification of disaster victims.

Authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue on Friday, and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams in order as a means to help identify the bodies.

French-Italian plane manufacturer ATR said in a statement that it had been informed that the accident involved its ATR 72-500 model, and said company specialists are “fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.”

The ATR 72 generally is used on shorter flights. The planes are built by a joint venture of Airbus in France and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. Crashes involving various models of the ATR 72 have resulted in 470 deaths going back to the 1990s, according to a database of the Aviation Safety Network.

The Capela neighborhood where the plane crashed Friday sits in a district far from the center of the prosperous city that’s home to 77,000 residents. It had departed from Cascavel, in Parana state.

Sá Pessoa reported from Guarulhos. AP videojournalist Tatiana Pollastri contributed from Vinhedo. AP writer David Koenig contributed from Dallas.

• Go Beyond Google: The Best Alternative Search Engines for 2024

Are you worried about anticompetitive practices or privacy, or maybe you just want new search results? These 15 search engines beat Google in many ways, from anonymous browsing to curated content.

Brave Search

Microsoft Bing

A judge has ruled that Google has a monopoly on online search because it paid partners to make its search engine the default on phones and mobile browsers. But you don’t have to use Google , and there are many reasons not to. Though Google is familiar to everyone, it doesn’t need to know every detail about you and profit from your information . Alternative search engines often give you more privacy and sometimes come with other benefits as well, such as rewards or donations to worthy causes based on how much you search. The quality of results between Google and other search engines used to be a real issue, but now you’d be hard-pressed to find much difference. The greatest contrast you're likely to notice is the ranking of the top results. We've tested the top alternative search engines and find the ones below to be worth your consideration.

Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks

AOL is still in the web portal game, giving you a start page showing curated hot topics in the news, entertainment, health, sports, food, and finance. But you can use it just as a web search engine as well. This offering features a slick interface, optional content filtering of potentially offensive material, and good image search filters. It's not the most private search in the world: location and activity tracking are turned on by default, but you can disable those from a Privacy Dashboard. AOL and Yahoo are one in the same company, so your web results will likely be the same in both, but they have different interface tools.

Coming from the innovative creators of the privacy-focused Brave web browser, Brave Search claims “unmatched privacy.” In my testing using the EFF’s Cover Your Tracks Tools, Brave was the most private browser , so the claim has some weight behind it. When I enter a search in Brave Search, my ad-and-tracker blocker, uBlock, doesn’t report anything to block. Brave gets its results both from its own web crawling index and “anonymous API calls to third parties.” Brave now gives you a choice of AI-powered or standard web results via its Answer With AI button. A Discussions section on the result page features content from Reddit and the like. Finally, Brave's Goggles feature lets you filter your results with parameters like No Celebrity content or News from the Left or Right.

The biggest name in private search deserves your attention. DuckDuckGo (DDG) has a simple privacy policy: “We don’t collect or share any of your personal information.” The search interface is simple, and results are on target, though they lack the extensive info panels found in Bing and Google. DDG lets you search for images, videos, news, maps, and shopping results. A nice touch is that DDG adds more header options depending on the search term, such as Definition, Meanings, Nutrition, and Recipes.

My tracker blocker uBlock reported trackers on DuckDuckGo result pages, though they were from DDG itself. For the ultimate in privacy, DDG offers a Tor .onion version of its search engine. If you like this search engine, check out its browser, too.

Ecosia makes people feel good about their web searches because it contributes to planting trees in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecosia's program has planted more than 180 million trees to date, in collaboration with local environmental organizations around the world. This search site doesn’t deliver the most polished results pages, but I can find what I need nearly all the time.

In terms of privacy, the site says it does not "create personal profiles of you based on your search history" and anonymizes all searches within one week. uBlock Origin did find (and block) some Bing trackers, but the site is upfront about using cookies, which you can disable. Those tree bills don’t pay themselves.

Gibiru may not have the slickest interface, special tools, or unique search features—or revenue sharing—but in its bare-bones interface, you can get your familiar old Google results without the activity tracking that Google engages in when you use its site. You can switch your search results between All Results and Censored Content (though it would make sense to give you another option in case you don't want to see adult images and potentially offensive content). The company also has a mobile private web browser called Gibiru Wormhole, and a VPN .

Bottom Line:

• Excellent search results.
• Helpful vertical search for travel, music, images, local, video and more.
• Social network integration better than Google's.
• Reward points get you free stuff.
• Not quite as fast as Google.
• No date range search.
• Google translates more languages.

Mojeek is a UK-based search engine with a focus on privacy. Its index is completely built in-house, though it's considerably smaller than Bing's or Google's. The results are occasionally in an unexpected order, but you can usually find what you want. One clever feature is Mojeek's search by emotions, which uses deep machine learning to analyze the feels of a webpage. You enter your search term and then choose whether you want a result that’s happy, angry, sad, and so on. It also lets you search for images courtesy of Bing and Pixabay. A couple more differentiators are its custom Focus searches (for example, recipe search) and its Substack article search.

Mojeek doesn't have a lot in the way of prepackaged, graphically designed answers like you get with other search sites. For example, searching for Major League Baseball scores still just shows links. Some result pages do have a Wikipedia card, matching what a lot of higher-profile search sites do. In terms of Mojeek's security and privacy, uBlock didn't find any trackers it needed to block, and the site claims to be the first with a privacy policy stating that it doesn’t track you or sell your data.

Privacy is the real mission of this decentralized, Web3 search site. Presearch is the only service listed here that doesn’t run on a single company’s servers, instead anonymizing your queries with distributed nodes so your information isn’t saved by any single provider. My uBlock tracking cookie blocker found nothing to block with Presearch.

If you sign in to an account, you can customize the search provider buttons from an extensive list, including Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Google. Signing in also lets you earn Presearch’s Ethereum-based crypto token, PRE, though only if you stick with Presearch's own search engine, and there are caps on how much cryptocurrency you can earn each day. Anyone can run a node server in the distributed system to earn PRE rewards, and advertisers use PRE when bidding on keywords. Be aware that there are a lot of user reviews online claiming the inability to withdraw their PRE tokens, however, so go for the decentralization and multi-search; don't expect a financial reward. I've had better luck with Bing Rewards on that front.

From the EU comes the anti-Google search service Qwant. Qwant has an appealing design and uses its own indexing robots to scan webpages for results, though it makes use of APIs from Microsoft Bing, Twitter, YouTube, and iTunes. Maps are based on the open-source OpenMapTiles , and you can privately save your map history. Qwant also makes a kid-friendly version of its search site, called Qwant Junior.

When using Qwant, users can be certain that their browsing history isn’t stored, they aren’t profiled, and they aren’t targeted through personalized ads. Though uBlock showed several tracker cookies it deemed worthy of blocking, they were all from the qwant.com domain because it appeared in one of uBlock’s block lists. The site clearly states, “We do not track or collect our users' data…When using Qwant, users can be certain that their browsing history isn’t stored, they aren’t profiled, and that they aren’t targeted through personalized ads.” 

Seekr has an original take on search, but now it's just for news stories. It uses machine learning to rate results on reliability and ideology. The result pages show whether each link leans right, left, or center. It also shows a result’s reliability, meaning whether it’s clickbait or uses an exaggerated title. For news results, you can use sliders to filter for higher reliability or left or right political leans. Since Seekr's evaluations are algorithmically based, they work on any English-language websites around the world. Seekr doesn’t yet rate non-English sites but has that on its roadmap.

The company claims it’s building its own web index, but it uses Bing for map results. Seekr isn’t really a privacy-focused search service. uBlock found four tracking cookies worth blocking, among many others deposited. The company’s privacy policy states that it may share your data with “business partners to improve the quality of advertising you see.”

Seva is Sanskrit for "selfless service." Like Swisscows and Ecosia, Seva's aim is to turn your search into donations to charitable causes—its twist is to have you organize into teams for this fundraising. The site lets you donate to the following charities: Best Friends Animal Society, Eden Reforestation Project, Elliot For Water, Ocean Heart, SaveUkraine.org, St. Jude’s, and World Food Program. For privacy, the site doesn't track or store your searches. Its results are very bare-bones, without the cards and helper content you find in the bigger names in search, and it passes image, video, and news on to Google. Maybe that's why the uBlock Origin tracker blocker extension found lots of Google trackers to block on a Seva result page.

Startpage uses privatized Google search results. The company makes a bold claim, saying it's the world’s most private search engine. You get choices of Web, Images, Videos, and News when searching. Its Anonymous View option lets you click on a mask icon next to a result to view the found web page via a proxy server, without providing any data about yourself to the site you’re visiting—except to Startpage itself. Before sending the query, Startpage removes your IP address and any other info and only then submits the query. The uBlock ad- and tracker blocker only blocks Startpage's own ads and finds no third-party trackers.

Switzerland-based Swisscows offers a VPN , a private messaging app, and private email as well as this privacy-focused search site that donates to worthy causes when you use it. Nefarious sites and adult content are not included in Swisscows’ results, so it’s a good choice for younger users. In addition to having the typical Web, Images, and Video search result filters across the top, Swisscows has a Music option, which lets you play tunes from the free Soundcloud service. On the result page, you can use a clever Anonymous preview so that the found site you want to visit doesn’t know you’re viewing it. It’s just an image of the site that’s not clickable, but you can read a whole page without any tracking. uBlock Origin didn’t have to block any suspicious trackers, a good sign for privacy.

The once-dominant and later-derided Yahoo Search has gotten its act together lately. The main Yahoo page has a search box at the top and panels for news, weather, sports, and trending searches, plus a button for the company’s storied email service. If you head to search.yahoo.com, you now see a simpler page with trending searches and buttons for Yahoo's other services, including the highly regarded Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo's search result pages feature quick answers, though not in as quite a polished format as Bing and Google. That said, among the services included here, Yahoo Search has the fullest answer pages after those two big players. Yahoo uses Bing to power search results, though it also has its own technology for a panel of Trending searches and other features. uBlock Origin blocks trackers from both Google and Bing, though Yahoo's maps are provided by the excellent open-source Open Maps service.

Like Patreon and similar platforms, Yep lets you tip your favorite online content creators. The difference is that you can earn lucre to use for this purpose through searching. Yep devotes 90% of its search ad revenue to this purpose. Lest you think Yep comes out of the blue, it was created by a founder of the prominent  Ahrefs  SEO tool and, in fact, uses that service for its web-crawling data. The search engine doesn't store or share any personally identifiable private info. Finally, Yep also includes an AI chatbot. Though the company doesn't disclose what powers that, its results resembled those in Microsoft Copilot, which is based on ChatGPT.

Buying Guide: Go Beyond Google: The Best Alternative Search Engines for 2024

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For more web browsing goodness, see our list of the best web browsers and the best web browsers for privacy .

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• Beyond Chrome and Safari: The Best Alternative Web Browsers for 2024
• Stop Trackers Dead: The Best Private Browsers for 2024
• Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, or Safari: Which Browser Is Best for 2024?

About Michael Muchmore

PC hardware is nice, but it’s not much use without innovative software. I’ve been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine , the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11.

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