Trivago

Trivago N.V., marketed with lowercase styling as trivago, is a German transnational technology company specializing in internet-related services and products in the hotel, lodging and metasearch fields. The United States travel company Expedia Group owns a majority of the company's stock. The company is incorporated in the Netherlands.[2]

trivago N.V.
Public
Traded asNASDAQ: TRVG
ISINUS89686D1054 
IndustryTravel, Hotel, Information technology, Marketing
FoundedJanuary 2005 (2005-01) in Düsseldorf, Germany
FoundersRolf Schrömgens
Stephan Stubner
Peter Vinnemeier
Malte Siewert
Headquarters
Düsseldorf
,
Germany
Areas served
190 countries worldwide
Key people
Axel Hefer (CEO)
Matthias Tillmann (CFO)
Johannes Thomas (CRO)
Anna Drüing (CPO)
James Carter (CTO)
ProductsMetasearch for hotel prices
trivago Hotel Manager
Revenue $ 941 million (2019)
OwnerExpedia Group
Number of employees
1,320 (2019)
SubsidiariesBase7booking
Rheinfabrik
TripHappy[1]
Websitetrivago.com
Logo of the hotel search engine

Trivago was the first hotel search engine in Germany.[3] It became one of the fastest growing companies in Germany,[4] with profitability doubling from 2008 to 2012.[5]

History

The company was founded in Düsseldorf, Germany, in January 2005. Seeing an opportunity in the hotel search space, the founding team developed Germany's first hotel search engine. Shortly after launch, Stephan Stubner resigned as Managing Director, but the three other founders (Rolf Schrömgens, Peter Vinnemeier and Malte Siewert) remained.[6]

Initially, trivago received €1 million from investors, including the Samwer brothers, Florian Heinemann, and Christian Vollmann.[6] In 2007, Trivago received US$1.14 million in Series B funding from the British company HOWZAT media LLP.[7] In December 2010, Trivago sold a quarter of the company for US$52.86 million to a US investment fund, Insight Venture Partners.[8]

In December 2012, Expedia, an American travel company, announced that it would acquire a stake in Trivago for $632 million.[9][6] The deal was completed in 2013.

In December 2014, Trivago acquired mobile app product and development company Rheinfabrik. After the acquisition, Rheinfabrik remains independent from Trivago in its work.[10]

In 2015, Trivago reported more than US$500 million in revenue.[11]

In March 2016, Trivago announced it had acquired a portion of Cloud-PMS company Base7booking.[12]

In April 2016, Trivago reached 1,000 employees and began building a new campus in Düsseldorf.[13]

On December 16, 2016, trivago became publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol TRVG.[14][15][16]

On November 5, 2019, CEO Rolf Schrömgens announced he will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Axel Hefer.

Operations

Trivago is headquartered in Düsseldorf, where the international operations are conducted and 90% of the company's employees work.[6] In 2013, Trivago opened offices in Leipzig and Palma de Mallorca. There are also offices in Amsterdam and Shanghai.[6]

Business model

As a hotel price comparison website, Trivago makes money from advertising partners primarily using a cost-per-click (CPC) business model. Booking platforms, hoteliers and other providers list rates and advertise on the Trivago site, paying for the clicks received from Trivago users.[6]

Trivago also offers free and fee-based versions of its Hotel Manager product, which hoteliers use to market their facilities on the Trivago site.[17] Trivago claims to be the world's largest online hotel search site, comparing rates from over 1 million hotels and more than 250 booking sites worldwide. Since their majority shareholder is Expedia, the effort is to direct bookings to their sites by way of various "adjustments" to how other sites' rates are perceived. They also offer rates through many sites reselling for travel wholesalers, where rooms may or may not be available at time of booking.

Products and features
  • Trivago app[18]
  • Trivago Hotel Manager[19]
  • Hotel Manager Pro
  • Rate Connect[20]

Indices and rankings

Trivago Rating Index (tRI)

The tRI aggregates all ratings for destinations listed on Trivago and ranks them between 0 and 100.[21] The index includes criteria such as location, price, food, internet, room and facilities,[22] and is used to create annual Trivago rankings and awards such as the Reputation Ranking,[23] Island Ranking,[24] Ski Ranking,[25] the Top Hotel Awards,[26] and the Best Value Destinations (based on an algorithm combining the tRI with price).[27]

Trivago Hotel Price Index (tHPI)

The Trivago Hotel Price Index (tHPI) displays the average overnight accommodation prices for the most popular cities worldwide. Prices are based on the cost of a standard double room, taken from over 2 million daily price inquiries over the past month.[11]

Marketing

Trivago focuses on online marketing (SEM and display advertising), public relations and brand marketing (TV).[28]

The "Trivago guy"

When the company aired its first U.S. TV advertisement in 2012, the ad's spokesman inspired a trending Twitter hashtag, #trivagoguy, based on his unusual look.[29] According to Rolling Stone, Trivago "wanted someone real, approachable and genuine" when it chose actor Tim Williams to star in the ad. The Trivago guy became an unexpected celebrity, with some people noting his unbuttoned shirt and creepy vibe, while others found his scruffy appearance and deep voice "inexplicably sexy".[30]

Trivago responded to the comments by launching a contest that invited people to give the Trivago guy a makeover.[31] The Trivago guy inspired parodies, fan fiction and a large gay following.[32]

Many commenters asked why Trivago chose not to have the actor wear a belt. According to the actor, that was an accident. "Unfortunately none of the belts fit the belt loops that I had on," Williams said. "I think that was probably the best break we could have gotten."[29] Following the large response for the U.S. Trivago guy, the company decided to create French and Spanish Trivago guys.[29] From 2016 until June 2017, the French actor Mehdi Nebbou was the German Trivago guy.

For Latin America (the whole Spanish-speaking region) Trivago's commercials are presented by Spanish actor Gonzalo Peña. In Brazil, the man shown on screen is the well-known actor and model Willian Mello.

In 2016, the company aired ads in India with Abhinav Kumar. Abhinav became popular and an internet sensation for his role in ubiquitous Trivago ads in India.[33][34][35][36][37]

The "Trivago girl"

In the UK, Trivago's advertisements are fronted by Australian actress and musician Gabrielle Miller.[38] In Japan, Trivago is represented in their TV commercials by singer/songwriter Natalie Emmons, who uses the pseudonym "Strae" in the United States.[39] In Malaysia, actress and TV host Dahlia Shazwan has starred in Trivago's advertisements.[40]

In August 2016, Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC filed a class-action lawsuit in California accusing the company and its partners of "brazen deceit" by coordinating with internet search engines and social media institutions to return false results on lodging entities in favor of those affiliated with their websites, in violation of the Lanham Act. As of January 2017, the case remained pending.[41][42]

In August 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged in a court case brought against Trivago in the Federal Court of Australia that the company had misled consumers on their website and in their television advertising. The court found that search results were ordered giving preference to the highest paying "cost per click" advertisers, rather than outright cheapest prices. It was also found that the company's television advertising misled consumers by purporting to be "impartial and objective", when it fact it wasn't.[43] The ACCC case started in the Australian Federal Court in September 2019.[44] In January 2020, the court found that Trivago breached Australian consumer law by misleading consumers on which hotel deals were best and made false representations to consumers. The ACCC argued Trivago promised customers impartial, objective and transparent hotel price comparisons which would allow them to quickly and easily identify the cheapest offer available. Instead, Trivago promoted its best advertisers, the ACCC claimed.[2] The ACCC claimed Trivago failed to properly disclose its operating model and used misleading "strike-through" price comparisons that compared a more expensive luxury room with a standard room.[44] The matter will return to court for orders for penalties, declarations, injunctions and costs.[2]

gollark: And yet people apparently enjoy that sort of thing for unfathomable reasons, so you're wrong.
gollark: What about jellycutting?
gollark: Technically, space elves MAY just be mind-controlling you into belief in nonsense concepts like "light" and "clocks".
gollark: Yes, count *spaces*, that is VERY smart.
gollark: `wc` says my thing is 191 words, my thing says 162.

See also

References
  1. "Today's Stock Market News and Analysis from Nasdaq.com". NASDAQ.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  2. The Age, Trivago misled consumers in favour of advertiser dollars, federal court finds, January 21, 2020.
  3. Anania, Paolo (February 16, 2016). "Arbeiten bei Trivago: Keine Hierarchien und 15 Biersorten gratis". Lead Digital. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016.
  4. "Grunderszene Ranking". Archived from the original on 2016-06-21.
  5. "Expedia Announces Agreement To Acquire Majority Of trivago (Expedia company press release)". Expedia, Inc. December 21, 2012. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  6. Neuhaus, Elisabeth. "Trivago, auf leisen Sohlen". Grunderszene. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  7. "HOWZAT media invests in trivago, the German-based travel website focused on hotels, reviews & community". Stellant Partners. January 14, 2008. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  8. Wimmer, Justin (April 5, 2011). "Insight steigt zu 160-Millionen-Bewertung bei Trivago ein". Grunderszene. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  9. Jacobs, Karen (December 12, 2016). "Expedia to acquire stake in German hotel site". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  10. Vom Rhein, Macher (October 2, 2015). "Mit 29 Jahren den 'Exit' geschafft". RP Online. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  11. "trivago Unveils Plans for New Global Campus". HospitalityNet. February 2, 2016. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  12. Schaal, Dennis (March 1, 2016). "Trivago Acquisition of Hotel-Tech Startup Highlights Evolution of Booking Sites". Skift. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  13. "Mit Altbier zu neuen Startup-Visionen". Grunderszene. Archived from the original on 2016-07-15.
  14. "trivago N.V. American Depositary Shares Quote & Summary Data". NASDAQ. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  15. "Expedia's Hotel Search Service Trivago Plans IPO". Fortune. Reuters. November 14, 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  16. Roof, Katie (December 16, 2016). "Trivago closes up 8% in public debut". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  17. "trivago helps hotels manage online presence". Hotel Marketing.
  18. "25 Apps to Save You Money". Mashable.
  19. "Trivago inaugura oficinas en España". Mercado Continuo.
  20. "Trivago startet Direct Connect für Hotels". AHGZ.
  21. "Edmonton hotels fail to make online list of country's best". Edmonton Journal.
  22. "La Angostura y San Martín se destacan por su hotelería". Imneuquen.
  23. "trivago releases global hotel reputation ranking 2015". Hotel News Resource.
  24. "European Islands trivago Reputation Ranking 2016". Travel Daily News.
  25. "6 Greek destinations among best winter skiing resorts in the world". Torno News.
  26. "Seven Bath hotels listed in trivago's inaugural Top Hotel Awards". Bath Echo.
  27. Trivago (December 6, 2017). "The 25 Best Value Cities in the World". Huffington Post: The Blog. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  28. "Trivago es uno de los comparadores de precios de hoteles más grandes del mundo - Entrevista". Revista Turismo & Tecnología (in Spanish).
  29. Harold, Kelly (October 22, 2015). "The Trivago Guy As You've Never Seen Him Before". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  30. "What's the Deal With the Trivago Guy? Meet TV's Sloppy, Sexy Pitchman". Rolling Stone.
  31. Krashinsky, Susan (August 28, 2014). "Trivago spokesman to undergo 'celebrity' makeover". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2018-03-13. (updated March 25, 2017)
  32. "You're Not the Only One With a Crush on Trivago Guy". Elle.
  33. "Who is Trivago ad guy: Meet Abhinav Kumar; this man has become internet sensation now". The Financial Express. 29 July 2017.
  34. Taneja, Parina (12 July 2018). "Trivago guy Abhinav Kumar reconnects with his father after 10 years, thanks to media". www.indiatvnews.com.
  35. "Unveiling the mystery behind the Trivago man - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com.
  36. Kapur, Manavi (25 August 2017). "Trivago ad guy: Abhinav Kumar, the man who is an unlikely brand ambassador". Business Standard India.
  37. "मालूम है, 'ट्रिवागो' के चाटू ऐड वाला ये आदमी कौन है?". LallanTop - News with most viral and Social Sharing Indian content on the web in Hindi (in Hindi).
  38. "Who is the trivago girl? 12 things you didn't know about Gabrielle Miller". Trivago Australia official website.
  39. "Natalie Emmons プロフィール (Japanese)". Natalie Emmons official website.
  40. "Gadis Trivago Dahlia Shazwan dapat anak perempuan". Astroawani.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  41. Elliot, John (September 9, 2016). "Buckeye Tree Lodge files lawsuit against Expedia". The Kaweah Commonwealth. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  42. "Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC v. Expedia, Inc. et al". Justia. August 17, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  43. Chau, business reporter David (23 August 2018). "Trivago misleads consumers into believing they get the 'best price', ACCC alleges". ABC News. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  44. The Sydney Morning Herald, Hotels? Trivago's best deals were with best advertisers, ACCC claims, September 9, 2019.
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