Advertisers aren’t feeling the direct blow of generative AI on site visitors the way in which publishers are. However they see what’s coming. Tripadvisor, for one, is already adjusting its technique as the inspiration of search begins to shift.
It’s not going full Dotdash Meredith – the writer has brazenly braced for a future with out Google site visitors – however a recalibration is clearly underway.
“Google’s AI mode in search goes to eat massive chunks of search,” stated Matthew Dacey, CMO at Tripadvisor. “It’s going to occur quick as they [Google] push it and extra individuals subsequently undertake it.”
Up to now that change hasn’t landed with full power on the journey agency. In response to Statisita, month-to-month visits hovered between 146 million and 169 million in early 2023. By February 2025, that quantity had dropped to round 120 million.
Sure, a few of that dip chimes with the rollout of AI Overviews – Google’s transfer to floor solutions instantly in search outcomes. However the story behind Tripadvisor’s site visitors shift is larger than anyone characteristic. The truth is, it’s a part of an extended arc: the way in which individuals discover info is altering. Tripadvisor, like everybody else, is studying how one can meet them there.
For Dacey, that begins with repositioning Tripadvisor not simply as a utility however as a day by day behavior – one thing individuals flip to repeatedly, whether or not they’re shopping, planning or already en path to a vacation. Much less search, extra morning ritual.
Delivering on that imaginative and prescient comes down to a few issues: enhancing the app expertise, refreshing the membership program and transferring Tripadvisor increased up the funnel – turning the service into a place to begin, not only a step alongside the way in which.
If it really works, the hope is that it’s going to drive extra logged-in conduct, significantly on the app.
“Proper now we now have over 100 million lively member accounts however not a lot of them are utilizing the app,” stated Dacey.
That’s the place AI is available in. Tripadvisor is constructing options to anticipate what vacationers want earlier than they ask, utilizing the main points they share once they start planning or reserving a visit. With that context, the app can push personalised suggestions at simply the appropriate second.
Or as Dacey put it: “All of our push notifications that exit might be these questions that travellers may be asking and served to them utilizing AI based mostly on the user-generated content material on our web site. It’s contextual info for precisely what’s on somebody’s thoughts.”
A brand new model marketing campaign is supposed to assist land that message. Launching this month, it’s going to mark Tripadvisor’s twenty fifth anniversary whereas cementing the model as a direct planning vacation spot – not only a Google hyperlink to the outcomes.
“The best way I’d describe what we’re doing is 2 issues: how will we attempt to be extra direct with individuals after which however it’s about how we present up the place individuals really are,” he continued.
A kind of locations is Perplexity. Tripadvisor’s partnership with the AI search startup, introduced earlier this yr, lets Perplexity faucet into behavioral and choice information that conventional search engines like google usually can’t entry. In return, Tripadvisor’s curated resort lists seem inside Perplexity’s summaries.
Six months in, Dacey stated the outcomes are promising – although he didn’t share particulars. Tripadvisor has stated the deal is bringing in additional high-intent customers, significantly these able to guide.
Ultimately, this partnership will develop to incorporate eating places and experiences. The playbook: generate income, drive certified site visitors and carve out a presence in AI-powered discovery environments.
“What tends to work in these environments is longer queries so we’re in place at Tripadvisor as a result of longer queries for particular use circumstances will at all times discover their technique to attention-grabbing content material,” stated Dacey. “The query for us then is how will we get credit score for that and the way we translate that affect into one thing tangible on our aspect.”
That optimism factors to a bigger dynamic. Manufacturers like Tripadvisor could also be higher positioned than publishers within the AI period. For one, they’re not monetizing pageviews the identical method. They’ll afford to lose some site visitors with out dropping income. And in contrast to publishers, they’ll shift advert {dollars} – transferring spend into efficiency or partnership to make up for what’s misplaced in search.
That’s to not say CMOs like Dacey aren’t involved. They’re. However in addition they have extra choices.
“After all, advertisers are going to really feel second-order results of site visitors from search taking place like CPCs going up however it’s not similar to publishers who view that site visitors as their lifeblood,” stated Tim Hussain, co-founder of AI consulting agency Signal42. “A CMO can at all times reallocate that cash into different channels and escape it – properly to a degree.”
