Tripadvisor Changes Marketing as AI Overviews Harm Traffic

During discussions with investors, Tripadvisor CEO Matt Goldberg said that the company is seeing continued declines in flyby website visitors. These are users who previously arrived through traditional search results but are now increasingly staying within AI-generated summaries.

Goldberg pointed to the growing influence of AI Overviews from Google and the wider adoption of LLM-powered search experiences as significant challenges. As search engines answer user queries directly on their results pages, fewer travelers feel compelled to click through to third-party platforms.

Goldberg’s remarks come a day after the release of Tripadvisor’s full-year 2025 earnings, which revealed that the Experiences division has become a central driver of the business, contributing nearly half of Group revenue and 30 percent of overall profit.

Reduced reliance on organic search traffic

CFO Michael Noonan clarified that while SEO remains meaningful for Tripadvisor’s legacy businesses, its importance is diminishing within the company’s growth-focused segments. He projected that by the end of 2026, less than 10 percent of gross booking volumes in the Experiences segment will be generated through free organic search traffic.

The company is preparing for a future where organic visibility may be less predictable due to algorithm changes and AI-driven search results.

Leveraging brand strength and paid acquisition channels

According to Noonan, Tripadvisor’s Experiences businesses, including both Viator and the flagship Tripadvisor brand, are structured to grow without relying heavily on SEO to improve profitability. Instead, the company intends to capitalize on brand equity, performance-based advertising, and newer digital marketing platforms to attract customers.

This pivot suggests a more proactive marketing model, where Tripadvisor invests directly in customer acquisition rather than depending primarily on free search engine traffic that is increasingly influenced by AI tools.

Investor pressure and possible asset sales

Goldberg also revealed that Tripadvisor is reassessing its portfolio structure. The company is evaluating possible divestitures or other structural changes. Among the assets under consideration is TheFork, Tripadvisor’s Europe-focused dining reservations platform.

Activist investors have played a major role in pushing for change. Starboard Value, which holds a 9 percent stake in Tripadvisor, along with Palliser Capital in the UK, have urged the company to unlock shareholder value since summer 2025. Their proposals included selling off business units such as Viator and TheFork or even exploring a broader sale of the company. These developments underscore the mounting pressure on management to streamline the organization and sharpen its strategic focus.

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