Morning 'Zoo

On Friday, Travelzoo announced, and Travel Weekly reported, that they purchased the Fly.com domain name for $1.8M. Well, it turns out that maybe the bigger story is that over the weekend they launched an air meta-search product using said domain name. Way to come out blazing. Did they have a commercial during the Super Bowl that we missed?

Taking a quick spin, we're not seeing anything truly unique on the look/feel of Fly.com vs. other established meta's. However, it is pretty interesting that Travelzoo deals are dished up along with the air search results. Let's be honest, they manage to promote some pretty darn good hotel rates from time to time. Does this mean a return to the ~$100/share TZOO glory days of late 2004?





Probably not, but we do love the smell of synergy in the morning. Although there are a lot of hurdles to transition from a media-centered advertising player to a meta-travel site - T'Zoo has a lot going for it. With its existing consumer base, and a decent air search to go with their ads, it seems that the 'Zoo may be able to carve out some room from the established meta's a challenge.

And can this crowded meta market offer any silver lining to the OTA's? We can't really think of one.