Expedia Group acquired a pair of companies that make it easier to list apartments on short-term rental sites like Airbnb or the travel giant’s subsidiary HomeAway. Expedia said Thursday it… Read More
IBM is suing Expedia, alleging that the popular travel site has for years been infringing on several of its patents, some of which date back to the early days of… Read More
Plenty of Pacific Northwest startups raised big funding rounds this year to fuel their growth in 2017 and beyond. The largest round was a $115 million cash infusion for Remitly, which… Read More
Even a decade ago, finding and renting a vacation home online wasn’t always a smooth process. It was equally difficult for homeowners to expose their properties to potential guests. But… Read More
Airbnb is putting down permanent roots in Seattle with a major new office that makes the vacation rentals company the latest well-known tech brand to grow rapidly in the region… Read More
Expedia said it has acquired a majority stake in SilverRail, a London based company focused on online booking for train trips. The two companies have teamed up in the past… Read More
After Expedia acquired HomeAway for $3.9 billion in late 2015, the travel giant shifted the business model of its vacation rental sites to more closely mirror competitor Airbnb, creating tension between Expedia and homeowners who had… Read More
A lot more people are using Expedia to book hotels than did so last year. And that surge is having a positive impact on the Bellevue online travel giant. According… Read More
How people get to a travel destination hasn’t changed much in recent decades, but where they stay once they arrive is transforming rapidly. Technology has given many people the ability… Read More
Grant Ries, who was an investor during both the angel and Series A funding rounds at Convoy, was so impressed by the Seattle-based on-demand trucking startup that he decided to accept… Read More
By September of an election year, anyone who still has cable is used to an onslaught of political ads sponsored by oil companies, environmental groups, activists, and, of course, candidates.… Read More
Yvette Hobzek, a Seattle-area real estate broker, filed suit against vacation rental company HomeAway on Monday, alleging racial discrimination. Hobzek, a 49-year-old African-American woman, claims she was barred from booking accommodations… Read More
Councilmember Tim Burgess told an impassioned audience that short-term rentals account for 12 percent of available housing inventory in Seattle last week at a meeting of the Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, and Finance… Read More
Rover.com, the Seattle-based online pet-sitting service, has appointed Steve Heaps as CFO. In a news release Friday, the company said Heaps will be focused on “making sure the right systems,… Read More
A crowd of homeowners, rental site representatives, and residents gathered today at City Hall as Seattle councilmembers proposed a simplified set of regulations designed to prevent property owners from operating Airbnb… Read More
A new report commissioned by HomeAway says that fewer than 500 properties in Seattle were listed on the short-term rental site between April 2015 and 2016, adding weight to the argument… Read More
Over the past decade, the lodging industry has split into two rival camps — hotels and short-term rentals — thanks to the rise of disruptive tech companies like Airbnb and… Read More
Airbnb is establishing a downtown Seattle engineering operation, GeekWire has learned, making the alternative accommodations giant the latest Bay Area company to set up shop in Seattle in a quest for software development talent. Leading… Read More
Seattle residents lined up Wednesday morning to speak out about housing affordability and short-term rental regulations at the Seattle City Council chambers, a window-lined section of City Hall overlooking a small… Read More
In 2005, Susan and Bob Frank built their dream retirement home in North Topsail, N.C., a popular vacation spot known for its soft sand beaches. They planned to rent out the… Read More
Expedia just finalized its acquisition of HomeAway, meaning the online travel giant is now officially going head-to-head with Airbnb. The blockbuster deal, which is Expedia’s largest ever at $3.9 billion, is the… Read More
Expedia may be about to plop down $3.9 billion to acquire an Airbnb competitor, but Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi insists that has nothing to do with his company fearing the new kid… Read More
As part of HomeAway’s third quarter earnings release, which included the announcement of its $3.9 billion acquisition by Expedia, the company revealed today how much it paid to acquire Seattle-based vacation rental startup Dwellable last month: $18… Read More
Bellevue, Wash.-based travel giant Expedia announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring Airbnb competitor HomeAway for $3.9 billion worth of cash and stock. This represents Expedia’s largest acquisition yet. The boards… Read More
Dwellable has found a new home. The Seattle vacation rental startup — founded three years ago by developers Nathan Kriege and Adam Doppelt — has been sold to its primary… Read More
Expedia is still keeping the so-called sharing economy at arm’s length, even as companies like Airbnb have swooped into the online travel industry and found success with a new way of doing… Read More