KAYAK.COM LAUNCHES TARGETED DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Former Travelzoo Ad Executive Joins Kayak.com as Vice President of Sales
NORWALK, Conn. – June 12, 2008 – Kayak.com, the world’s largest travel search site, today announced the launch of an innovative display advertising platform optimized for the travel industry. The new ad platform is a major improvement on technology developed by Sidestep.com, which Kayak.com purchased in December 2007.
Similar to the text ads that are already available through the Kayak Publishing Network (KPN), the new display ad system helps travel marketers target their ads based on search criteria including destination, origination, trip dates, length of stay, specific airline/hotel/car brands and car type. Referrals generated by either ad type can pass consumers’ search information (destination, travel dates, etc.) through to the advertiser’s Web site, allowing the advertiser to display relevant search results instead of a generic landing page.
Kayak.com and its affiliated Web sites generate nearly 200 million targetable ad impressions per month on air, hotel and rental car search result pages. Display advertising units are available in three IAB standard ad units of 180×150 pixels, 160×600 pixels and 300×250 pixels. There are more than 30,000 active text placements on the Kayak Publishing Network from more than 2,000 travel brands.
Reflecting Kayak.com’s commitment to usability, consumers can turn off display ads indefinitely by simply clicking on a “hide display ad” link below each advertising unit.
“Our advertisers have repeatedly told us that display ads can communicate travel services in a way that text ads cannot,” said Steve Hafner, Kayak.com co-founder and CEO. “Yet we know that some consumers dislike these ads and find them distracting. I believe we’ve found the right balance by allowing our registered users to suppress or view them, whichever they prefer.”
Travel marketers interested in learning more about advertising on Kayak.com or SideStep.com should contact: Todd Skelton, 408-207-1903, tskelton@kayak.com.
Kayak.com Welcomes Kristina Davis
Kristina Davis joins the Kayak.com team as Vice President of Sales, responsible for advertising sales for Kayak.com, its affiliated Web sites and the Kayak Publishing Network. Davis will be based in the worldwide headquarters in Norwalk, Conn. She’ll manage sales teams on the West and East Coast and will be charged with expanding the U.S. sales force.
Prior to joining Kayak.com, Davis spent nine years at Travelzoo, Inc., the Internet’s most popular list of weekly travel deals, most recently as Senior Director of Sales. As a founding member of Travelzoo, Davis helped launch the company’s well-known Travelzoo Top 20.
About Kayak.com
Kayak.com, the largest Travel 2.0 site in the world, is a global Internet media company operating Kayak.com, Sidestep.com, TravelPost.com and TravelSearch.com. Kayak.com and SideStep.com display results from more than 400 travel sites, providing prices and itineraries for hundreds of airlines, more than 100,000 hotels, all leading rental car companies and 18 cruise lines. Kayak.com has won more awards since launch than any other travel site including “100 Best Products of 2007” by PC World; “25 Sites We Can’t Live Without” by TIME Magazine; “Best Search Engine” by the Associated Press; and “Best of the Web” by BusinessWeek, Forbes.com and US News & World Report. Launched in 2005 by co-founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, Kayak.com’s investors include General Catalyst Partners, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Trident Capital, Oak Investment Partners, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners and America Online, Inc. Kayak.com has sites in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. For more information, visit www.Kayak.com.
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To speak to Kristina Davis or learn more about Kayak.com, please contact:
Kellie Pelletier
Kayak.com
203-899-3111
kpelletier@kayak.com
Tiffany Fessler
Edelman
404-832-6359
tiffany.fessler@edelman.com
