KayakScreenshot Type of siteSubsidiaryAvailable in18 languagesFoundedJanuary 14, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-01-14)HeadquartersStamford, Connecticut, U.S.Area servedGlobalFounder(s)Steve HafnerPaul M. EnglishKey peopleSteve Hafner (CEO)Ko Baryiames (CTO) Amy Wei (CCO)Peer Bueller (CFO)Tore Pein Jensen (CMO)IndustryTrelTechnologyProductsTrel agencyMetasearch engineRevenueUS$292.7 million (2012)[1]ParentBooking HoldingsSubsidiariesSWOODOOCheckfelixMundiHotels CombinedURLwww.kayak.comLaunchedFebruary 7, 2005 (2005-02-07) (Public)[2]Native client(s) oniOS, Android, watchOS, Amazon Alexa, Facebook Messenger
Kayak (styled as KAYAK) is a metasearch engine for trel services, including airline flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages.[3] It is owned and operated by Booking Holdings.[4]
Kayak's website and mobile apps are currently ailable in about 20 languages and 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia,[5] Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.
History[edit]Kayak was founded in January 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English.[6][7] Before Kayak, Steve Hafner, Kayak's current CEO, helped found Orbitz in November 1999 and led its business development, advertising sales, marketing, and product marketing activities.[8]
The company was originally named Trel Search Company, Inc. and the name was changed to Kayak Software Corporation in August 2004.[9]
The website launched in February 2005.[2]
In December 2007, Kayak raised $196 million in financing from a group of investors including General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Oak Investment Partners. Using that funding, Kayak acquired SideStep, another online trel agency.[10][11]
On March 5, 2010, Kayak sold certain assets related to TrelPost.[12]
In May 2010, Kayak acquired German trel search platform Swoodoo.[13]
In January 2011, Kayak shut down SideStep and redirected SideStep traffic to Kayak.com.[14]
In April 2011, Kayak acquired all of the outstanding shares of JaBo Vertrieb-und Entwicklung GmbH, or JaBo Software, operator Checkfelix, a trel search engine in Austria.[15]
On July 20, 2012, Kayak became a public company via an initial public offering. On its first day of trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol KYAK, Kayak opened at $26 per share and closed at $33.18 per share.[16]
On May 21, 2013, Booking Holdings, then known as Priceline.com, acquired the company for $2.1 billion.[17]
In September 2013, Kayak announced an office move to the Harbor Point district of Stamford, aided by a $2.5 million loan from the state of Connecticut.[18]
In 2017, the company acquired Mundi, a Brazilian flight metasearch company.[19]
In 2018, Kayak assumed leadership of Hotels Combined, which was acquired by parent company, Booking Holdings.[20]
In 2024, Kayak added fares from Southwest Airlines to its listings.[21]
Awards[edit]In 2013, Trel + Leisure included Kayak's app in its list of the Best Apps for Business Trelers[22] as well as its list for the Best Apps for websites and trelers.[23]
Time named Kayak on its list of the 50 Best Websites of 2009.[24]
Mashable included Kayak in first place for the website's list, "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Treler Should Know in 2012".[25]
Kayak won the following Webby Awards:
2008: People's Voice award in the trel website category[26] 2009: The Webby Award in the trel website category[27] 2011: The People's Voice award in the mobile trel app category in 2011[28] 2012: 3 awards: both the Webby and People's Choice awards in the trel website category, and the People's Voice award in the mobile trel app category.[29] 2013: Nominee for Best Trel Mobile & App for Handheld Devices[30] 2014: both the People's Voice and Webby Award in the Trel category for Tablets.[31] 2015, Kayak Mobile won again the People's Voice Award in the Trel category.[32]The World Trel Awards presented Kayak with the World's Leading Flight Comparison Website award in 2013 and the World's Leading Trel Search Website award in 2011.[33]
All-American Muslim advertising[edit]In December 2011, Kayak announced that it would not renew a contract to advertise on the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim. The decision followed a campaign by the Florida Family Association, a one-man fundamentalist organization focused on “defending American values".[34][35] In a statement posted to the Kayak website, Kayak Chief Marketing Officer, Robert Birge, wrote that TLC “was not upfront with us about the nature of the show”.[36]
References[edit] ^ King, Danny (April 3, 2013). "Kayak turns 2012 profit". Trel Weekly. ^ a b Schaal, Dennis (January 30, 2012). "Kayak redesign: How and why they did it". Phocuswire. ^ Peterson, Lucas (April 18, 2017). "Which Trel Search Site Is Best? It Depends on Your Goals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 1, 2024. ^ "Kayak.com: Private Company Overview". Bloomberg L.P. ^ Perez, Sarah (July 20, 2012). "Kayak Is Headed To Russia". TechCrunch. ^ "The Billion-Dollar Trel Agent". Boston. January 9, 2018. ^ "The Way I Work: Paul English of Kayak". inc.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023. ^ Timmins, Beth; Cox, Josie (April 26, 2017). "A View from the Top: Steve Hafner, founder of trel comparison site Kayak". The Independent. London. ^ "Kayak Software Corporation 2012 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ^ Arrington, Michael (December 20, 2007). "Breaking: Kayak Raises $196 Million, Buys Rival SideStep". TechCrunch. ^ Luzadder, Dan (December 21, 2007). "Kayak.com, SideStep to merge in $196 million deal". Trel Weekly. ^ Schaal, Dennis (February 11, 2011). "Kayak has stake in TrelPost rollout". Phocuswire. ^ Zinnagl, Lukas (May 6, 2010). "Kayak swoops on German trel search engine Swoodoo [Updated]". TechCrunch. ^ Rao, Leena (May 27, 2011). "in-front-of-its-ipo-kayak-reports-growth-in-revenue-but-income-down". TechCrunch. ^ May, Kevin (April 5, 2011). "Kayak buys Austrian trel search engine Checkfelix". Phocuswire. ^ Empson, Rip (July 20, 2012). "That'll Fly: Kayak Closes IPO Day With Shares Up Nearly 30% And Market Cap Over $1.2B". Techcrunch. ^ "PCLN Form 10-Q". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ^ "Gov. Malloy: Kayak to Expand and Create 50 Jobs in Stamford" (Press release). Connecticut. September 25, 2013. ^ O'Neill, Sean (August 4, 2017). "Kayak Acquires Assets of Struggling Brazilian Metasearch Company Mundi". Skift. ^ Schaal, Dennis (July 9, 2018). "Booking Holdings Buys HotelsCombined as Kayak Expands Into Asia Pacific". Skift. ^ Schaal, Dennis (August 5, 2024). "Kayak Can Now Show Southwest Flights – Finally". Skift. ^ Brown Hunt, Katrina; Samiljan, Tom (October 14, 2013). "Best Apps for Business Trelers". Trel + Leisure. ^ Rop, Gideon (January 8, 2015). "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Kayak.com". DPO Group. Retrieved July 16, 2024. ^ Fisher, Adam (August 24, 2009). "50 Best Websites 2009". Time. ^ "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Treler Should Know". Mashable. July 26, 2012. ^ "2008 People's Voice: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.[dead link] ^ "2009 Webby Award Winner: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.[dead link] ^ "Kayak Mobile For Iphone". Webby Award. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2020. ^ "We Won Three Webby Awards – Thanks to You". Kayak. May 1, 2012. ^ "2013 Nominee: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.[dead link] ^ "2014 People's Voice / Webby Award Winner: KAYAK Technology Team". Webby Award.[dead link] ^ "2015 People's Voice: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.[dead link] ^ "Kayak". World Trel Awards. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (December 16, 2011). "Waging a One-Man War on American Muslims". The New York Times. ^ Diaz, Johnny (December 14, 2011). "Kayak won't renew ads on Muslim TV show". The Boston Globe. ^ Elliott, Stuart (December 14, 2011). "Kayak Defends Cutting Ties to 'All-American Muslim'". The New York Times. External links[edit] Official website vteBooking HoldingsPeople Jeff Boyd (Chairman and former CEO) Jay S. Walker (founder) Darren Huston (former President and CEO) Subsidiaries, brands, and divisions Agoda Booking.com Cheapflights HotelsCombined Kayak Priceline.com Momondo OpenTable Rentalcars.com Other Name Your Own Price Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V. vteTrel ticket search enginesSearch engines @hotel Agoda Bing Trel Busbud Booking.com Cheapair Cheapflights Cleartrip Dohop EaseMyTrip eDreams eLong Expedia Expedia Cruises FareCompare FromAtoB.com Google Flights Gopili GotoBus Hotels.com HotelTonight HotelsCombined ixigo Jetcost JetRadar Justfly.com Kayak.com Kiwi.com lastminute.com Liligo.com MakeMyTrip Mobissimo Momondo Omio OpenTable Opodo Orbitz Oui.sncf Priceline.com Rail Europe, Inc. Raileurope.co.uk redBus Rome2rio Scout (trel website) Skiplagged Skyscanner StudentUniverse Trainline Trelgenio Trelocity Treloka Trelstart Trip.com Tripadvisor Tripfez Trel trivago Via.com Voyagermoinscher.com Wanderu Webjet Wego.com Whole Trel Yatra Yandex Category Authority control databases ISNIVIAF