Expedia Cracks Code on Traveler-Centric Search with AI

Expedia Group is revolutionizing its marketing strategy by putting travelers at the forefront of its AI-powered search efforts. Eric Gottloeb, VP of performance marketing, and Daniel Shin Un Kang, head of organic and agentic search, recently shared their insights with Think with Google on how the online travel agency is adapting to changing consumer behaviors.

The duo emphasized that while the fundamentals of delighting consumers remain unchanged, the medium of search has evolved from keywords to conversations. To meet this shift, Expedia Group is using technology to tailor its content to a wide range of user needs, employing AI tools to ensure its web presence is always evolving.

Marketers in the AI era are encouraged to build compelling and differentiated content that can be indexed and interpreted using technical best practices. As Gottloeb noted, 'When people are searching on Google, they just care that they're getting the information that they want and can find what they're trying to discover.'

Expedia Group is also building new capabilities within its marketing function, including its 'Business-to-Agents' practice, which complements B2C and B2B marketing capabilities. The team studies agent behaviors in the same way it tries to understand consumer behaviors, employing emerging communication protocols like Google's open-source Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP).

The integration of AI tools has led to a more holistic and channel-agnostic view of its marketing strategies, with Gottloeb stating that 'Good SEO is good AEO. You could expand that and say that it's also turning into good SEM.'