Hotels.com Leverages Marin Software to Manage Global Paid Search Program
Leading global travel brand deploys Marin Software to increase performance of large-scale paid search programs across 85 branded travel websites worldwide
San Francisco, CA November 2, 2011– Marin Software, provider of the leading online advertising management platform for advertisers and agencies, today announced that Hotels.com utilizes Marin Software to optimize its global paid search program. Hotels.com is a leading provider of lodging worldwide, offering travelers almost 140,000 properties in over 85 countries from national chain hotels and all-inclusive resorts, to local boutique hotels and bed & breakfasts.
To best serve its travelers, Hotels.com invests in a robust paid search marketing program, which includes hundreds of millions of keywords relating to Hotels.com’s services through 85 hotel-booking websites. To optimize its paid search program, Hotels.com has deployed Marin Software.
After a thorough evaluation, Hotels.com chose Marin Software due to the company’s flexible, customizable bidding platform and Marin’s outstanding service and support. Hotels.com uses a sophisticated keyword bidding process focused not only on Return-On-Advertising-Spend (ROAS) goals, but also on the value of specific customer paths or “destination maps” within Hotels.com websites. The Marin platform supports Hotels.com’s complex bidding practices, by incorporating online and offline data into bid calculations.
Marin’s bidding solution provides Hotels.com search managers increased visibility and control over paid search performance, improving their ability to respond quickly to changes in consumer travel patterns. Marin’s sophisticated bid algorithms also deliver improved financial performance for the Hotels.com paid search program, accurately predicting bids for hundreds of millions of keywords each night. In addition to Marin’s bidding capabilities, the Hotels.com team leverages the platform’s campaign management and analytics capabilities to realize workflow and reporting efficiencies.
“A customer’s first experience with Hotels.com is often through our paid search marketing efforts. We take great care to preserve that experience,” said Jon Armitage, Senior Director of Global Paid Search at Hotels.com. “Marin Software gives us complete control over the keyword bidding process, allowing Hotels.com to optimize campaigns on the fly for maximum impact. By deploying Marin Software, Hotels.com can improve the performance of our paid search program and more effectively reach customers.”
“Hotels.com is one of the most successful travel brands in the world, and much of that success can be attributed to the strength of its sophisticated online advertising programs,” said Christopher Lien, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer for Marin Software. “We’re looking forward to working hand in hand with Hotels.com to bring efficiency, optimization, and critical insights to their global paid search programs – helping the company improve advertising ROI.”
About Marin Software
Marin Software is a leading provider of online advertising management solutions, offering an integrated platform for managing search, display, and social marketing. The company provides solutions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes, enabling them to improve financial performance, save time, and make better decisions. Marin Enterprise, the company’s flagship product, addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100,000 per month on biddable media. Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise, through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100,000 per month on biddable media. Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices worldwide, Marin’s technology powers marketing campaigns for over 1,100 customers managing more than $2.7 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries. For more information, please visit: http://www.marinsoftware.com.
About Hotels.com
As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets, Hotels.com offers almost 140,000 quality hotels, B&Bs and serviced apartments worldwide. If a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com will match it. Hotels.com benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry negotiating the best rates for its customers, plus there are more than 2.5 million reviews from users who have actually stayed in the hotels to ensure customers make an informed choice when booking. Travellers can book online or by contacting one of the multilingual call centers on 800-246-8357. During 2011, Hotels.com launched a specially-designed app for the iPad and several smart phone apps, all available to download for free. These allow users to search and book more than 20,000 last minute deals from around the world. Available in more than 30 languages, the apps also allow users to sort and filter hotels, browse user reviews plus find last minute hotel deals close to their location. Hotels.com has recently launched its Welcome Rewards customer loyalty programme worldwide, where customers can earn a free night for every ten nights stayed (subject to Welcome Rewards terms and conditions as set out at www.hotels.com).
The company currently operates 85 Hotels.com sites around the world including 33 sites in 24 languages across EMEA. The European sites launched in the UK in 2002 and now attract several million unique users every month and thousands of people now book bed nights through Hotels.com every day.