Expedia Hires Google Travel Advertising Director Rob Torres

Skift Consider

The pandemic waylaid Expedia Group’s 2019 vow to cut down its reliance on advertising and marketing via Google. If Expedia seeks to resume working on that goal, it now has a vital member of Google’s vacation promotion management to assist direct the effort.

Dennis Schaal

Expedia Group for numerous decades has been hoping to minimize its dependence advertising on Google to gain customers, and Expedia has signed on Google’s handling director of advertising and marketing and advertising to plot approach.

Expedia Team announced Monday that Rob Torres has been appointed as senior vice president Media Answers, which is its journey marketing application. He replaced in that position Wendy Olson Killion, who remaining for “personal motives,” in accordance to a spokesperson for Expedia.

Torres labored for Expedia prior to his additional than 15 years at Google, as vice president of strategic accounts. In that part from 1999 to 2006, he worked “closely with hotel partners,” Expedia mentioned.

In a Skift interview Monday afternoon, Torres was questioned what seemed like a sudden occupation transition from Google to partner/competitor Expedia Group and whether he experienced a noncompete clause in his Google deal.

“I seriously cannot speak about that but I can share this is one thing I’ve been considering for awhile,” Torres stated. “This wasn’t just some quick shift … It is some thing I have been pondering about for a very long time. In the final two many years, I have been contemplating about what do I want to do up coming and how do I genuinely want to assist the marketplace in other techniques.”

Torres declined to remark on whether he could help Expedia Team decrease its conventional dependence on promotion through Google.

He reported he enjoys the vacation marketplace and genuinely needs to assistance it. Torres additional that he welcomes the opportunity to operate at a enterprise that is entirely concentrated on vacation. Google, of program, is involved in several industries.

Torres said there’s an opportunity to assistance Expedia Media Alternatives superior leverage to start with celebration info in an period when privacy concerns are mounting, and to choose learnings in this region from merchants these types of as Amazon and Concentrate on.

“I don’t know if they are completely having advantage of that nevertheless,” Torres stated, referring to Media Solutions’ use of very first bash facts.

He stated there are also options to strengthen automation, to simplify points, and to just take Expedia’s promotion business to the next level, like Google did.

On line travel agency marketing has traditionally centered on the resort business, and Torres stated there are tremendous possibilities to help sub-sectors these as destinations and cruise entice new website visitors or customers.

Asked about Torres’ departure, a Google spokesperson reported: “Rob was a useful element of the group for lots of decades, and we desire him properly in his potential endeavors.”

Torres is a Seattle resident, where Expedia Group is headquartered.

The announcement didn’t give a purpose for Torres leaving Google and joining Expedia.

“After approximately 16 several years absent from Expedia Team, I’m psyched to return to the company with a concentrate on providing creative and insights-led strategies for promotion companions and contributing to field development,” claimed Torres said in a assertion. “The travel and advertising and marketing industries have been through transformational alter through the earlier two many years, from shifting consumer behaviors and anticipations to the rising value of very first-bash knowledge and the rise of commerce media. It’s a pivotal time for destinations and journey manufacturers, primed with opportunity to inspire tourists in new methods and capture pent-up desire, and I appear forward to doing work with the Media Remedies staff and our partners to travel meaningful outcomes.” 

In 2021, Expedia’s advertising and media vertical generated $152 million in profits, an 85 per cent soar when compared with 2020.

Like other large on line journey corporations past 12 months, Expedia Team leaned into general performance marketing on Google to seize vacation need. In 2021, Expedia Group’s offering and marketing was $4.2 billion, a 67 p.c jump.

Notice: This story was up-to-date to contain an job interview with Torres and a comment from Google.