Kayak says it intends to eliminate advertising within its mobile products because the user experience with these ads is poor.
Kayak Pro, which launched in November 2009 and is available for a $0.99 download from iTunes, already is ad-free and that is the main differentiator from Kayak's free mobile apps.
Kayak's free mobile apps currently run ads from companies such as Hotels.com, Marriott and Dollar Rent A Car, for example.
But all of these mobile ads apparently will get stripped out of the Kayak mobile portfolio in a bow to the user experience.
Don't expect Kayak to take a big hit from any lost revenue because of the decision.
In 2010, Kayak took in 57.6% of its revenue from advertising, but very little of that came from its mobile products despite some 5 million downloads since they were introduced a little more than two years ago.
In fact, less than 1% of Kayak's total revenue -- including advertising and distribution revenue -- came from its mobile portfolio in 2010 so Kayak won't feel a pinch from going ad-free in mobile.
Despite its role as a media company, Kayak's decision to abandon advertising in its mobile products isn't totally out of character because the company has taken unorthodox steps before to improve the user experience.
For example, in June 2010 Kayak unveiled Kayak Connect, which enabled mobile users to book flights through Kayak instead of having to navigate to a supplier site in traditional travel-metasearch fashion.
And, in a somewhat similar manner, around two weeks ago Kayak went live with taking its own hotel bookings through a private label deal with Travelocity.
On the mobile front, the main differentiator until now between Kayak Pro and Kayak's free apps was that Kayak Pro didn't have any advertising.
But Kayak intends to add some exclusive features, including terminal maps, to Kayak Pro.
Of course, Kayak's decision to eschew advertising in its mobile apps can always be revisted when mobile ad formats evolve.