Currently, aside from Cooluxun, websites that provide vertical search services for travel also include Qunar, Wendaoo, and the Sina Travel Channel which has recently started trying out this service. But is the financial future of travel vertical searches really so brilliant? In fact, as early as June 2008 when Cooluxun transitioned, there were seasoned industry insiders who analyzed that Cooluxun's transition would likely lead it into trouble. According to analysis by these seasoned insiders, users log onto travel vertical search sites in order to find the lowest-priced travel products. However, when users use general search engines like Baidu or Google, most of the search results they obtain are freely grabbed by the search engine from various websites. On the other hand, all of the search results from travel vertical search engines come from advertisers on the vertical search engine. The search engine charges these advertisers anywhere from 2-4 yuan per user click, with the highest being up to 17 or 18 yuan. With an average conversion rate of 10% across the industry, just from advertising fees alone, each time a plane ticket or hotel is booked, the cooperating travel booking website must pay the vertical search engine dozens to even hundreds of yuan in advertising fees. Of course, the travel booking website will not bear these costs alone but instead pass them on to consumers. However, this goes against the original intention of consumers, who use vertical search engines in pursuit of the lowest price. Therefore, from the very beginning, there have been fundamental logical contradictions in the business model of travel vertical search engines. It’s no wonder that under the dual pressures of management teams needing to serve the people and investors needing returns on their investments, vertical search engines often find themselves in an extremely awkward position. And when the conflict between these two parties intensifies, situations like the turmoil and even collapse of Cooluxun can occur.
Are the plane tickets found by vertical search engines really so cheap? Regarding this issue, I asked a friend who frequently uses the vertical search engine "Qunar". According to this friend, many websites that offer plane tickets may seem to have low prices at first glance, but they covertly increase prices through bundled insurance or service fees. Some websites, while having low prices listed in the search results, make it impossible to find such low-priced tickets once you enter the site. A few websites even force users to buy high-priced tickets after payment, citing reasons such as the sellout of discounted tickets. Faced with such unreliable travel vertical search engines, where should price-conscious consumers turn? Perhaps one should take the advice of a friend and find a suitable travel booking website to use long-term and become a senior member, possibly obtaining real benefits in the process.