Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and Airbnb spent a whopping combined $5.37 billion on marketing in Q2. Booking led at $2.37 billion (up 11%), Expedia spent $2.12 billion (up 10%), and Airbnb kicked in $875 million. That’s a lot of money to make sure travelers find them before they find you.
Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin says traditional SEO still matters but is relatively soft, while social media and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) are among Expedia’s fastest-growing channels. Expedia is already testing AI agents, agentic browsers, and even paid ads in ChatGPT.
The OTAs aren’t waiting to see whether AI changes travel search. They’re paying now so that when someone asks ChatGPT where to stay in Waikīkī, Expedia is in the answer. Hotels spent a decade fighting the OTAs on Google. The next round is getting recommended by the robot, and as always happens, the OTAs are showing up first and with much bigger budgets.
