TripAdvisor targets destinations with paid content advertising expansion

TripAdvisor targets destinations with paid content advertising expansion
By Christian Fleetwood


TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel platform, has introduced a new destination sponsorship offering for media buyers, marking the company’s latest push in paid advertising.

This comes after an expansion to its sponsored placements in March, with the company then moving to allow hoteliers and properties to target, and time, ads to TripAdvisor users.

“The new destination sponsorship offering provides a platform for media buyers to showcase and shape their story and connect to travellers who are actively searching and seeking new ideas on where to stay, dine or visit,” TripAdvisor said in a statement.

The platform also revealed its destination sponsorship offering is the “first of many products” aimed at elevating “partner content” to travellers.

TripAdvisor said in the past that brands and influencer involvement would not result in paid placements “at this time”, with a spokesperson informing Travel Weekly that paid reviews “break TripAdvisor’s rules on review bias”.

TripAdvisor has not made it clear whether its sponsored content arrangements are with brands or influencers but has instead chosen to focus on its latest advertising push being focused on destination partnerships.

“Our platform allows our tourism partners to do two key things: reach more travellers and share differentiated experiences,” Christine Maguire, TripAdvisor’s vice president of advertising revenue, a recent recruit from Condé Nast, said in a statement.

“By using rich media, inclusive of vibrant imagery, video and curated travel experiences, our partners can influence and reach more travellers during the exact moment when they are most open to discovering new places to visit,” she said.

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