MARKETING PILGRIM -- Dec 30 -- Travel search engine Kayak.com acquired SideStep.com for $196 million. Both sites are search engines to help travelers find the best prices on airfare, hotels, and car rentals. They do plan to keep both sites separate in style and branding but combine some of their technology. Kayak has some plugins and widgets while SideStep has a review site and social network for travelers. Kayak reached about $50 million in revenue this year, while SideStep is at about $35 million. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING PILGRIMMark Brooks: I use SideStep religiously but hadn't noticed their social network. I'm surprised more sites haven't adopted their approach to search. Their filters are first rate. Choose when and where you want to fly. Then you can tick options for the time of day you want to fly, how many legs you mind taking, and surrounding cities, all while seeing all of the pricing options. Hotwire still has the edge for hotels on pricing. Trip Advisor is stronger for advice.
