TripAdvisor has acquired four travel media businesses, adding five travel community web domains and growing its audience to more than 24 million monthly visitors, according to comScore Media Metrix.  The recently acquired companies are Smarter Travel Media LLC, operator of smartertravel.com and bookingbuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com.  Terms are not being disclosed.

“TripAdvisor has built a very successful media business with user-generated content as our core and returned remarkable revenue growth and best-in-class profit margins,” said Stephen Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor.  “By acquiring a number of other travel media companies, we expect to apply our learnings over the past seven years to fuel similar growth across all of these great consumer brands and active travel communities.”

Kaufer added, “These are strong, profitable standalone businesses, run by talented travel industry experts.  Our acquisition strategy is to build on their success, while capitalizing on obvious efficiencies, but not to mess with sites that appeal to travellers and suppliers and advertisers alike.  We expect the businesses to operate independently and continue to prosper.”

All of the newly acquired businesses, which combined employ approximately 50 people, generate the majority of their revenue through graphical and contextual advertising and all operate profitably. There are no near-term plans for extensive integration of the businesses or the web domains and there are no expected layoffs.
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