Trivago has acquired Tripl for an undisclosed sum.
According to a statement Hamburg-based Tripl has developed an artificial intelligence-based platform which "imitates the way a travel agent would recommend hotel experiences".
The statement goes on to say that Tripl founder and creator of its algorithm Hendrik Kleinwachter will join Trivago's development team.
The Tripl algorithm makes recommendations based on a user's social media activity as well as in-app data of like-minded users.
Trivago founder and chief executive Rolf Schromgens says:
"We believe our competitive advantage is the speed of our learning. We have always focused on machine-learning, and the area of semantic analysis. “tripl’s personalization technology is unique and individual in its approach, putting us one step closer toward bringing each traveler into their ideal hotel."
This is an interesting move at a time when metasearch players are finding ways to evolve and personalisation is one potential route.
In a question on personalisation, Expedia Inc. chief Mark Okerstrom admitted in a recent interview with tnooz that in the "man versus machine race" man was still winning. He said:
"This area of personalization and befitting to the title that OTAs got, which is online travel agent, is really yet to come."
Earlier this month Trivago downgraded its full year guidance for 2017 citing "Revenue per Qualified Referral related impacts".
The company announced its intention to list on the public financial markets almost a year ago.
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