trivago

What trivago does

trivago N.V. (NASDAQ: TRVG) is a publicly listed hotel metasearch platform headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 2005 and majority-owned by Expedia Group. The company aggregates and compares hotel prices from 100+ booking sites across 7+ million accommodations in 190+ countries, serving 50+ million monthly users through 53 localized websites in 30+ languages, native iOS/Android apps, and a HUAWEI partnership. Following a near-death experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new executive team — led by CEO Johannes Thomas (a trivago intern since 2011), CPO Andrej Lehnert, and CMO Jasmine Ezz — took over in mid-2023 and repositioned the company around brand marketing, AI-driven product development, and on-platform booking. As of FY2025 reporting, trivago had ~600+ employees from 75+ nationalities.

The core product is trivago Hotel Search, rebuilt on a new desktop architecture called Nova Vista, onto which multiple AI-driven modules are layered: Smart AI Search (LLM-powered free-text search built on Google Cloud Vertex AI Search, first-of-its-kind in travel), AI Highlights, AI Review Summaries, AI Smart Filters, and AI Top 10 Badges by Theme. The on-platform booking funnel trivago Book & Go, powered by the white-label booking engine Holisto (acquired fully in August 2025 for $32M after a $10M 30% stake in July 2024), enables direct booking completion and supports cryptocurrency payments via a Travala integration across 2.2+ million hotels. The B2B platform trivago Business Studio offers Direct Connect and Rate Connect tools for hotel chains and independent hoteliers, and the company publishes a Digital Services Act transparency report as an EU-gatekeeper-scope intermediary with 11.67 million average monthly active EU users.

trivago's revenue model is a two-sided transaction-based marketplace. The company moved to a standardized CPA (cost-per-acquisition) model with a minimum 10% commission per completed booking across all markets and removed CPC (cost-per-click) as a pricing option on September 1, 2025. The B2B side serves 140+ CPA partners comprising OTAs, hotel chains, and independent hoteliers, with revenue diversification visible in the rise of "all others" advertisers to 35% of Referral Revenue (from 20% in Q1 2023) and logged-in members contributing 30% of Referral Revenue. FY2025 revenue reached €549 million (+19% YoY), with Q4 2025 revenue of €120 million (+27% YoY) and Q1 2026 revenue of €142.9 million (+15% YoY), the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The company ended FY2025 with €130.9 million in cash and zero long-term debt, and announced a €20 million share buyback program in May 2026 alongside a raised 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance of approximately €25 million.

Name

trivago

Legal name

trivago N.V.

Website

https://company.trivago.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

trivago (NASDAQ: TRVG) is a hotel metasearch platform comparing prices across 100+ booking sites for 7+ million hotels in 190+ countries. The Düsseldorf-based, Expedia Group majority-owned company operates a standardized CPA marketplace serving 50+ million monthly users and 140+ advertiser partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hotel Metasearch

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510)

akta.pro primary industry

Hotels & Lodging Metasearch (THALAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Metasearch & Fare/Rate Comparison Engines (THAKAAAD)

Keywords

• Hotel metasearch
• Travel price comparison
• Hotel advertising platform
• Online travel marketplace
• Hotel referral network

Headquarters

HQ city

Düsseldorf

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Referral Revenue — CPA: Primary revenue stream. Transaction-based marketplace model where trivago charges advertisers (OTAs, hotel chains, independent hoteliers) a standardized minimum commission of 10% per completed booking. Replaced CPC as the default pricing model; CPC was removed from the offering on September 1, 2025.
2. Referral Revenue — CPC (legacy/hybrid): Cost-per-click advertising model. Largely phased out — CPC removed as a pricing option on September 1, 2025. Some hybrid arrangements (mix of CPA and CPC) remain.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

trivago runs a global hotel metasearch platform that aggregates rates, availability, and reviews from over 7 million hotels in 190+ countries and compares offers from hundreds of booking sites and OTAs in a single search. It earns revenue by referring engaged travelers to hotels and OTAs via CPA-based referrals (standard 10% commission) and legacy CPC advertising, and increasingly offers AI-driven comparison features such as Smart AI Search and AI Review Summaries.

Product overview

trivago operates a unified hotel metasearch platform anchored by trivago Hotel Search and complemented by trivago Mobile Apps (iOS/Android), a B2B hotelier platform called trivago Business Studio (which includes the Direct Connect and Rate Connect tools), and an editorial sub-brand called trivago Magazine. The architecture is a platform-plus-modules model: the core search product is built on a new desktop architecture called Nova Vista, onto which AI-driven modules are layered — including Smart AI Search, AI Highlights, AI Review Summaries, AI Smart Filters, AI Top 10 Badges by Theme, and Property Details Pages. The on-platform booking funnel trivago Book & Go, powered by the acquired Holisto white-label booking engine, enables direct booking completion and supports cryptocurrency payments via Travala across 2.2 million hotels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• trivago Business Studio: Self-service marketing platform for independent hoteliers and partners to manage their listings and advertising on trivago (studio.trivago.com).
• trivago Magazine

Products and services

• trivago Hotel Metasearch Platform
• trivago Mobile Apps
• trivago Business Studio
• Direct Connect
• Rate Connect

Quantifiable outcome

• 58% conversion rate increase since Q1 2023
• +5 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability12 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Google CloudflagshipTechnology or IntegrationStrategic AI collaboration. trivago is working with Google Cloud on AI-powered search experiences, including integration with Vertex AI Search and joint AI Search initiatives.
• HolistocoreStrategic or Co-development Partnertrivago acquired 100% of Holisto, deepening its hotel metasearch and advertising technology capabilities.
• Jürgen KloppflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal brand ambassador. Klopp features prominently in trivago brand campaigns produced with Project MJK and SPORTFIVE.
• SPORTFIVEcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSports marketing agency partnership supporting trivago's sports sponsorship and brand ambassador work (e.g., Jürgen Klopp).
• Project MJKcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCreative/production collaboration on the Jürgen Klopp brand ambassador campaign.
• Expedia GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company relationship. Expedia Group is a major shareholder and strategic parent of trivago N.V.
• HUAWEIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership, with trivago's app pre-installed or featured on HUAWEI devices in selected markets.

Scale indicators23 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Tripadvisor: Travel metasearch and review platform with a hotel comparison and booking offering. Competes with trivago on hotel discovery, AI-driven review summaries, and click-out referrals to OTAs.
• Kayak: Hotel and travel metasearch engine owned by Booking Holdings. Closest direct functional peer to trivago, comparing prices across OTAs and supplier sites, with a similar performance-marketing-driven model.
• Booking.com: Largest OTA globally and a direct supplier of hotel inventory that also advertises on trivago's CPA marketplace. Most direct competitor on the supply side and a key demand source, making it trivago's most strategically important peer.

Emerging players

• Airbnb: Alternative accommodation marketplace with growing hotel supply. Increasingly a competitor in the broader accommodation search and booking space where trivago competes for traveler attention and ad spend.
• Skyscanner: Trip.com Group-owned metasearch engine focused on flights but expanding into hotels. Comparable as a travel metasearch marketplace using similar CPA/CPC monetization mechanics.

Broad incumbents

• Hotels.com: Another Expedia Group-owned hotel booking brand that participates in trivago's marketplace. Direct overlap in hotel search and booking, competing for both demand and supply relationships.
• Expedia: Sibling brand under Expedia Group, trivago's parent, and a competing booking site. Overlaps with trivago on hotel metasearch and booking, but operates at much larger scale across flights, packages, and loyalty.
• Google Hotels: Google's own hotel metasearch and booking module surfaced directly in search results. The single most important structural competitor, given trivago's dependence on Google search traffic and the subject of trivago's antitrust damages claim.

Regional players

• Agoda: Booking Holdings-owned OTA with strong APAC hotel inventory. Comparable as both a competing booking site and a supply partner to trivago, especially in Asian markets where trivago is less dominant.
• Trip.com Group: Major Asia-based OTA and travel metasearch player (including Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, Qunar). Comparable in metasearch/OTA model, primarily competing in Asia but with growing global reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/trivago
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/trivago
• Facebookfacebook.com/trivago
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trivagonv
• Instagraminstagram.com/trivago
• TikToktiktok.com/@trivago

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A6 records

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about trivago