US travel site strikes deal with AOL

Priceline products will be marketed on AOL sites

Priceline.com, the US online travel site, has struck a major marketing deal with AOL Time Warner.

We are absolutely moving more and more to online marketing in the next year

Brett Keller
Priceline.com

The deal will provide Priceline with access to more than 30 million AOL users.

Priceline's travel services will be marketed on several AOL brands, including Netscape, the Travel Channel and MapQuest.

Priceline.com enables users to name their own price for air fares and hotel reservations.

The online advertising deal will complement Priceline's campaigns on TV and radio.

Advertising decline

A sharp decline in advertising revenues has made pricing of ads on the internet more attractive, said Brett Keller, marketing officer at Priceline.

Terms of the deal

Easy access to Priceline services for AOL users

Priceline products marketed on AOL sites, including Netscape

"Traditionally, we have built our brand offline," he added.

Priceline has used banner ads in the past, but this latest deal will provide the company with a higher online profile.

"We are absolutely moving more and more to online marketing in the next year," Mr Keller said.

"It will be a strong additional channel for us."

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Some Wall Street analysts are predicting that the downturn in the online advertising market may have hit its bottom.

Travel deals

In November, AOL's European arm signed a deal with the UK travel site Lastminute.com.

The deal was designed to incorporate Lastminute's technology with AOL's own internet services.

It also gave Lastminute access to AOL Europe's five million members.

The deal followed an advertising alliance between the two companies, which was struck two years ago.