MobileAction is pleased to showcase the Top 10 Travel Apps by user acquisition performance, spotlighting leaders in user acquisition performance in the United States. This curated list recognizes those excelling in mobile visibility through both paid and organic channels.
Leading the list is booking.com, the top travel app for user acquisition driven by its impressive Apple Search Ads visibility score. Following closely is Expedia, outperforming competitors with exceptional ASO scores. Hotels.com claims the third spot, displaying robust metrics from both organic and paid strategies. Notably, Agoda earns its place on the list, distinguished by various active ad creatives and holding the highest Ad Intelligence score.
Now, let’s dive into the key highlights, analyzing how these top apps have consistently outperformed their competitors.
Booking.com
- They exhibit a strong organic presence with over 5,800 keywords, with an impressive 54% securing a spot in the top 30 rankings. Most of their organic downloads come from a strategic choice of 10 keywords, covering their brand, generic terms, and competitor brand keywords. This keyword strategy highlights their expertise in optimizing visibility and drawing organic traffic.
- On Apple Search Ads, they actively bid on over 10,000 keywords, with 100+ having a greater search score than 40. As expected, they are at the top spot in the search result ads Top Advertisers list and the highest ASA score holder in the market.
- To enhance visibility, they also run ads on the Today tab and Search tab, employing a multi-placement ad strategy. Going beyond the default product page, they’ve crafted 4 custom product pages, each tailored to different features. Notably, one of these custom pages outperforms their default page in impressions.
Expedia
- They’ve got over 9,000 keywords that they rank for organically, and an impressive 58% secure a spot in the top 30, giving them the highest ASO score on the list. Interestingly, 23% of their organic downloads come from their brand keyword, with the majority originating from competitor brand keywords.
- Expedia actively places bids on over 1,700 keywords for their search result ads. They utilize the power of Search tab ads to boost visibility and drive traffic. In addition to its default product page, Expedia has 7 custom product pages that are uniquely customized and localized.
- They’ve got over 36 live ads that are getting significant impressions.
Hotels.com
- Hotels.com has a robust organic presence with over 5,900 keywords, an impressive 56 of them in the 1st position. The primary source of their organic downloads revolves around 11 keywords, including their own brand and competitors’ brands. Noteworthy is their ability to attract significant downloads from competitors’ brand keywords, even when not securing a top 3 ranking for those terms.
- They’re currently bidding on over 1,500 keywords for their search result ads. Additionally, they’re running Search tab ads to increase awareness and traffic. Beyond their default product page, they have three custom product pages that attract a significant number of impressions and feature customized ad creatives targeting their brand keywords, generic category-related keywords, and competitor brand keywords.
Airbnb
- They’re currently ranked organically for over 4,600 keywords, with a notable 63% securing a spot in the top 30. What stands out is that a substantial 76% of their organic downloads come from their own brand keyword, highlighting their strong brand presence in the market.
Vrbo
- They currently rank for over 4,500 keywords, and over 45% of those have a search score greater than 40. When it comes to organic downloads, they mainly generate them from 8 keywords, a combination of their own brand and competitors’ branded keywords.
- They’re actively bidding on over 300 keywords for their search result ads. In addition to their default product page, they’ve created two custom product pages. What makes these custom pages stand out is their targeted approach. They are tailored specifically for their own brand keywords and competitor brand keywords.
- They currently have 26 live ads, each strategically designed to highlight the diverse benefits users can enjoy with the app. To make a compelling connection, they’ve integrated real-life footage, adding an authentic touch to draw in users.
Agoda
- They organically rank on over 3,500 keywords. Most of their organic downloads come from 11 keywords. Notably, the highest download percentage comes from a competitor’s brand- Airbnb.
- They’ve got 14 active ad creatives that are outperforming the category average in terms of impressions. They have crafted a diverse range of ad creatives, highlighting the app’s features and showcasing real-life footage to boost engagement. With these strategies in play, they’ve secured the top spot with the highest Ad Intel Score on the list.
Anticipating What’s Next in Your Category
Special Days & Events Affected the Trends
Exploring the last 90 days through MobileAction’s unique Keyword Trends tool reveals correlations between special days, seasonal events, and ASO trends. Notably, keywords like ‘Burning Man’ and ‘Black Friday’ experience heightened popularity around their events but see a decline afterward.
Incorporating relevant keywords during those periods is a strategic move for apps tied to these occasions. On a different note, the term ‘relocate’ gained traction during the last travel season, making it a valuable addition to your app’s metadata. Keep ahead of the curve by leveraging the insights.
Implementing New Technologies at the Right Time
Incorporating new product updates into your app keeps you on the cutting edge and may give you a competitive advantage in your category. Take, for instance, Expedia’s strategic move. By examining the product page elements of travel apps through MobileAction’s one-of-a-kind Creative Asset Hub, we observed that Expedia updated its app’s screenshot assets, resulting in an uptick in category rankings.
Further analysis using the App Update Timeline revealed that these changes occurred around the travel season, just before it peaked. Upon analyzing this shift, we discovered that Expedia introduced an AI feature to help users create the ultimate travel plan using ChatGPT, capitalizing on the buzz around the new AI trend.
Curious about how your app compares to others in the market? MobileAction is a valuable resource for in-depth competitor analysis. It empowers you to understand market trends and enhance your strategy. Schedule a demo with MobileAction to gain additional insights and strengthen your position.
Methodology
The ranking of top advertisers is determined by analyzing ASO Scores, Apple Search Ads Scores, and Ad Intelligence Scores obtained from MobileAction’s extensive dataset.
This in-depth analysis has been made possible through MobileAction’s offerings, including Apple Search Ads campaign management and comprehensive app store marketing intelligence. Our platform actively tracks over 5 million keywords, providing invaluable insights, and boasts a library of 69+ million ad creatives from 50+ ad networks globally. These impactful features strengthen our analyses by tapping into a wealth of data from diverse apps and creative strategies, ensuring a comprehensive and insightful examination of the advertising landscape within the travel app industry.
