TripAdvisor Now Getting into Vacation-Home Reviews

Since yesterday, another large site is getting into the vacation rental market. This time it is TripAdvisor which is owned by Expedia.com. TripAdvisor has announced a majority investment in vacation property review site FlipKey.com.  TripAdvisor plans to include FlipKey reviews on its site.

“Vacation rentals is the hot emerging category in travel and FlipKey has a great foundation and a smart business approach,” said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. “We believe we can help FlipKey become the leader in the space and, in turn, FlipKey content will satisfy a growing need for TripAdvisor users.”

Boston-based FlipKey.com launched in March 2008 and is led by TJ Mahony (founder of Compete.com), CEO, Jeremiah Gall (Brightcove CEO), COO, and Carl Query, CTO. FlipKey features 50,000 vacation homes, representing all 50 U.S. states. In addition to amassing vacation rental listings and consumer reviews of the featured properties, FlipKey has an exclusive relationship with Instant Software, the leading property management software company, to provide a guest review platform for its clients. FlipKey content is expected to be integrated with TripAdvisor.

Travelocity should be next to enter this market.