TripAdvisor launches self-service ad platform for SMBs

TripAdvisor has launched a new self-service ad product: Media Manager. The tool is designed for small and medium businesses and agencies and is available globally to marketers on TripAdvisor’s platform.

Simple ad creation and targeting. While the formats are graphical and include retargeting, the customer intent profile is more aligned with search marketing. It’s designed to reach high-intent, in-market travel customers or those doing research on particular travel destinations.

The ad creation process is fairly simple. Marketers name their campaigns, select whether they want the ads to appear on desktop or mobile and select an audience targeting option.

Marketers then set a budget, a start and end date for the campaign and a geographic targeting option. TripAdvisor says, “the less granular the destination,” the lower the CPM. The audience targeting options also include behavioral targeting and destination retargeting.

Users can upload their own creative or use a wizard to build creative on the platform. There’s also an A/B testing option and frequency capping. Ads appear as native ads within the feed or search results.

The company says that if the campaign “doesn’t receive as many views as you requested, we’ll automatically refund you for the difference.”

Why we should care. For companies seeking highly qualified travel audiences, this may well be a strong complement or alternative to paid search on Google — although marketers pay for CPMs not CPCs. But for SMBs in hospitality and travel-related services that are currently doing self-service Google Ads, this may be a simpler and cheaper option.