Expedia moves ad business under chief marketing officer

Expedia Group has moved its advertising business into its global marketing organisation, placing Expedia Group Advertising under Chief Marketing Officer Jochen Koedijk.

The restructuring brings the media business closer to the teams responsible for the company's marketing spend, loyalty programme and first-party data strategy.

The shift reflects a broader push to make advertising a larger part of the business as competition intensifies among travel media networks. Expedia says its advertising arm is growing at nearly 20% year on year and attracting more advertisers.

Travel groups have been trying to turn their customer data, loyalty schemes and booking platforms into advertising businesses as brands seek more precise ways to reach consumers. The trend has pushed booking platforms beyond their traditional role as sales channels and into the broader media market.

By placing advertising inside the marketing division, Expedia is combining media buying and media sales within one function. It wants a more unified system linking brand marketing, performance marketing and media activity.

The structure is intended to give advertisers access to Expedia's audience across different stages of the travel journey, from early research to booking. It also creates a tighter link between the company's own brand investment and the advertising products it sells to partners.

Growth focus

The move underlines the importance of advertising to Expedia at a time when travel companies are looking for revenue streams beyond bookings. Media networks built around retailer and travel platform data have drawn growing interest because they give brands access to users with clear purchase intent.

For Expedia, the integration also puts a fast-growing business line under a senior executive who already oversees the company's global marketing operations. Koedijk now has responsibility for a broader set of assets, including brand investment, loyalty and the advertising unit.

"Travel advertising is being reshaped by data, technology, and partner expectations," said Jochen Koedijk, Chief Marketing Officer at Expedia Group.

"Bringing EGA into Marketing lets us combine one of the largest media operations in travel with one of the most engaged audiences and apply that combination directly to what our partners need," he said.

Wider trend

The decision highlights how travel platforms are trying to strengthen their position in a market where airlines, online booking groups, hotel operators and retailers are all competing for advertising budgets. Advertisers have been shifting spending towards networks that can use customer behaviour and transaction data to target audiences more directly.

Expedia says the closer alignment should help it move faster and unify insights across its platform. The new structure is also intended to give advertisers more direct access to travellers at key decision points.

The group operates consumer brands including Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, alongside a large business-to-business travel operation and its advertising network. It serves millions of travellers in more than 70 countries.

The latest change shows how online travel companies are increasingly treating advertising not as an ancillary business but as a central commercial line alongside transactions and partner services.

Its advertising business is growing at nearly 20% year on year, making it one of Expedia Group's fastest-growing platform businesses.