Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Bart-Jan Leyts, CEO of Otamiser, at the Scale conference, where we discussed strategies for optimizing listings on OTAs like Airbnb and Booking.com.
Today, I’m excited to share that Otamiser has secured $3 million in funding to expand its groundbreaking platform. Congrats to the team! This development promises significant benefits for vacation rental managers seeking to enhance their listings’ visibility and profitability.
What Otamiser Does and How It Works
Otamiser is a specialized platform designed to enhance the visibility and ranking of hotel and vacation rental listings on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com, Airbnb, and Expedia. It offers two key products:
Otamiser Booster
The core service of Otamiser involves using an AI-driven algorithm to boost the positions of these listings, similar to how SEO works for search engines like Google. This optimization helps properties secure top positions in search results, which is crucial as a significant portion of bookings come from these OTAs.
Otamiser’s main product, Otamiser Booster, leverages 951 different factors to enhance the visibility of listings. By doing so, it aims to increase occupancy rates and maximize revenue for hotel owners and property managers. The platform offers automated optimization of listing titles and descriptions, taking into account trending events and nearby attractions to improve ranking performance.
Currently available, this product is designed to elevate property rankings on OTA platforms like Booking.com. Booster uses a smart algorithm to analyze successful accommodations and push your property to the top, ensuring more bookings and higher revenue. With features like continuous optimization, personalized customer service, and a comprehensive onboarding process, Booster makes it easy for hotels and vacation rentals to enhance their visibility and maximize their profits.
- Machine Learning Algorithm: The algorithm continuously analyzes and updates the ranking factors to keep the properties at the top of search results.
- Continuous Optimization: The tool continuously improves property listings to maintain and enhance their rankings over time.
Otamiser Autorank
Not yet available, Autorank is tailored for Airbnb listings. It offers AI-driven automated optimization of titles and descriptions, leveraging trending events and nearby attractions to boost your listing’s position. This upcoming product promises to maximize visibility and booking opportunities on Airbnb, providing a significant revenue increase.
- Airbnb Listing Optimization: Autorank optimizes Airbnb listings to improve visibility and attract more bookings.
- AI Description and Title Optimization: Uses AI to craft compelling descriptions and titles based on current trends and nearby attractions.
- Listing Health Score: Provides a health score for listings to identify and improve weak areas.
Otamiser Secures $3 Million to Expand Global Presence and Launch New Products
The recent funding round, led by Pitchdrive VC, raised $3 million to support Otamiser’s expansion plans. This capital will be used to extend their services to 1,000 hotels and 100,000 short-term rentals worldwide. The funding will also enable Otamiser to enhance its existing tools, launch Autorank, and expand its commercial team to capture market share quickly.
Key investors in this round include Stijn Christiaens (co-founder of Collibra), Jacob Quartier (formerly of Showpad), Peter van Praet (founder of Bavet), Viktor De Maertelaere (Hospitality House hotel chain), and the dynamic duo behind startup Henchman, Jorn Vanysacker and Gilles Mattelin.
Otamiser, founded in 2022 in Ghent, Belgium, has quickly risen as one of the standout tech firms in the Flanders region. Their rapid growth and innovative solutions have positioned them as a key player in the hospitality technology sector.
Addressing Common Concerns: My Q&A with Otamiser
Given the significant impact of Otamiser’s platform, I reached out to their team to ask questions that vacation rental managers might have. Here are their responses:
1. How do OTAs like Airbnb and Booking.com view a company whose mission is “OTA ranking optimization”? Can they block you at some point if you are too successful?
It’s in their best interest to allow tools like ours, as we optimize the user experience on their platform. In addition to that, we make sure properties on their website are getting booked more, so they get more commission.
2. Are you assisting companies in maximizing their ranking potential or achieving a higher ranking than they typically would under the OTAs’ guidelines?
No, we don’t game the algorithms to promote listings higher up the rankings than they should be, but we help them to live up to their full potential by finding the most optimal ranking. Too high a ranking may result in too many bookings, which are not in line with the optimal booking window. We only use the tools the OTAs provide. We analyze which listing features should be used to a greater degree and when. It’s about using the right combination at the right time.
3. “Meticulously managing prices to unlock the full potential of every room.” Do you consider your solution a revenue management tool, extending beyond just ranking optimization?
Otamiser clarifies that while their tool impacts ranking by optimizing listing features and prices, they are not a traditional Revenue Management System (RMS). Instead, Otamiser integrates with RMS, acknowledging that pricing plays a significant role in ranking optimization.
