kayak

Priceline today says it has agreed to buy rival Kayak for about $1.8 billion, bolstering its online travel shopping presence.

The deal, valuing Kayak at $40 a share, includes $1.3 billion in stock and $500 million in cash and is a 29 percent premium to Kayak's closing price today. The highest the stock has traded in the past year is $37.

The acquisition, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, should close by the end of the first quarter. Kayak will operate independently from the rest of Priceline, … Read more

Facebook's teeter-totter on the Nasdaq has caused some to wonder whether it's a good idea for Internet companies to go public. After a little back-and-forth and a bit of careful consideration, the online travel agency Kayak has decided to take the plunge.

Trading is scheduled to begin on the Nasdaq tomorrow, with the company's initial public offering set at $26 per share -- above the expected range of $22 to $25, according to CNBC. Kayak aims to sell 3.5 million shares, it said in its regulatory filing last week. At $26, that would mean raising $91 … Read more

Kayak Software is finally ready to test the IPO waters.

The online travel company announced today in a regulatory filing that it aims to raise as much as $87.5 million by selling 3.5 million shares for between $22 and $25 each. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker KYAK.

Kayak, which first filed to go public in 2010, effectively put its IPO in dry dock in May after company executives decided against holding its "roadshow" with would-be investors around Memorial Day as planned. Executives were reportedly worried about the willingness in the … Read more

Although Facebook's initial public offering hurt investors and the social network's share price, there appears to be another victim of its troubles.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today, citing sources, that online travel site Kayak decided against holding its "roadshow" with would-be investors around Memorial Day as planned, due to issues with Facebook's IPO. The Journal's sources say that Kayak is trying to determine the willingness in the investment world to drop cash into another Internet IPO.

If investors are concerned, it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Over the last year, … Read more

Quirky and innovative travel search service Hipmunk has just updated its mobile apps (Android | iOS) with a nifty new calendar integration feature. As of today, the already powerful travel apps can now take inventory of your Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, or Apple iCal events, and overlay its findings on your travel search results pages. This can be an especially useful tool for business travelers with difficult schedules.

If you haven't used Hipmunk before, it's a Kayak-like travel search service on the Web and mobile devices. What makes it unique is its capability to factor in things like departure … Read more

This is a tale of communication and miscommunication.

Which so often happens when religion, education, fundamentalism and reality television attempt to achieve co-existence.

You might be aware that pressure has been applied to certain companies that happened to advertise on the TLC reality show "All-American Muslim."

The squeeze, coming as it did from the Florida Family Association, persuaded Lowe's to withdraw its constructive commercials from the show.

Online travel site Kayak also appeared to feel a shuddering frisson and withdrew its ads for the coming season.

As the clip I have embedded reveals, the FFA was upset … Read more

Whether you're a novice traveler or a frequent flyer, the Hipmunk travel search app should be a breeze to handle. Simply type in your destination and departure cities and select your travel dates. Then select Coach, Business, or First class, and enter the number travelers. And that's it. The process is very similar to that of most travel apps and Web sites, plus it comes with some quick auto-complete suggestions, a super-smooth date selector, and uniquely visual interface.

After you fill in all the fields, Hipmunk goes off and searches through its database to bring up tons of … Read more

Recently, I took a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles to drive the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid. When I told friends that I'd driven over 5 hours one-way just spend even more time driving when I got there, the question I got most often was, "Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just fly?"

Had I known about the Cost2Drive Web service and iOS app at the time, I'd have been better equipped to answer that query.

After entering a starting address, ending address, and a make, model, and year of a vehicle, Cost2Drive … Read more

Google could find itself the target of two separate antitrust probes launched by Ohio and Wisconsin, according to a story published today by Bloomberg.

Concerned over the search giant's business practices, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is "evaluating the facts to determine if it's something we want to review," his spokesman Dan Tierney told Bloomberg.

Tierney confirmed the information to CNET, saying that the attorney general's office is "reviewing the facts regarding the matter to determine if there's any action that needs to be taken."

Asked if the attorney general is looking … Read more