BELLEVUE, Washington, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia(R) Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of Expedia, Inc., today announced the expansion of its successful TravelAds (https://searchsolutions.expedia.com/TravelAdsMicroSite/index.aspx?) search advertising program to France, Germany and Italy. Currently available in the US, Canada and UK, this expansion brings the ease-of-use, flexibility and high return-on-investment (ROI) that TravelAds is known for to more Expedia hotel partners worldwide.

TravelAds is an automated, easy-to-use search placement offering that delivers a highly targeted, sponsored listing in the hotel search results pages at Expedia.com(R) and Hotels.com(R) with criteria relevant to a specific property and location. Available in the US, Canada and the UK since 2009, hotels ranging from independent properties to multi-property chains have reported strong results with TravelAds. A study (http://www.advertising.expedia.com/en-us/about-ems/case-studies/Pages/TravelAdsCaseStudy.aspx) of TravelAds results showed on average a 40 percent lift in transactions and 52 percent lift in market share within the first week of participation.

"Expedia TravelAds has proven to be a very effective tool to instantly help build room nights and revenue at a minimal cost with a very high ROI," said Nic Barger, Makaha Resort in Oahu. Makaha Resort has reported an increase in room nights and revenue production of roughly 54 percent with an ROI of 29 to one.

"By utilizing TravelAds from the beginning, IHM has been able to deliver our client hotels a return on investment ranging between fifteen and twenty-five to one," shared Sean Kane, vice president, Investors Hospitality Management(IHM).

With TravelAds, hotels set a maximum price-per-click and only pay when a customer clicks on their hotel ad. With a low cost of entry, this pay-per-click auction model is designed for any budget range, reaches highly qualified customers and provides insightful analytics at every step so hotels can adjust their campaigns to maximize success.

"The nature of consumer behavior, and search, is global - which is why the continued international expansion of TravelAds presents an exciting opportunity for hotel marketers," said Noah Tratt, vice president, Expedia Media Solutions. "Marketers can continue to leverage our targeted search solutions for in-market consumers, and increase this option to a more global scale to drive efficiency and ROI."

About Expedia Media Solutions

Formed in 2007, Expedia Media Solutions is dedicated to building online and offline media partnerships for travel and non-travel brand advertisers and to enable them to leverage the unique media value of Expedia's network of leading travel brands and global points of sale. For more information, visit http://www.advertising.expedia.com.

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. is the largest online travel company in the world, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes more than 90 localized Expedia.com(R)- and Hotels.com(R)-branded sites; leading U.S. discount travel site Hotwire(R); leading agency hotel company Venere.com(TM); Egencia(R), the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company; the world's largest travel community TripAdvisor(R) Media Group; destination activities provider ExpediaLocalExpert(R); luxury travel specialist Classic Vacations(R); and China's second largest booking site eLong(TM). The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers vast opportunity to reach the most valuable audience of in-market travel consumers anywhere through TripAdvisor Media Group and Expedia Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world's leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia(R) Affiliate Network. (NASDAQ: EXPE)

Expedia and Expedia.com are either a registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark of hotels.com, L.P. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.(c) 2011 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-50

SOURCE Expedia Media Solutions