Meta's Muse is gaining a potential toll booth on online checkout, which squeezes Booking and Airbnb. Within 48 hours Shopify, PayPal and Expedia joined Muse checkout, since each merchant has reason to join early if agents steer demand. For Booking and Airbnb, joining could mean paying fees on bookings that would have come direct anyway, about 90% of Airbnb's traffic as of Q3 2023; staying out bets booking habits won't move to Muse. No deal has disclosed economics, the number to watch. x.com 

As consumer AI agents become the new battleground, booking aggregators Booking and Expedia look like clear losers, facing margin compression and more comparison shopping. Ad platforms such as Meta should thrive on entertainment-first ad consumption, while businesses that depend on humans using their own interfaces face pressure. OpenAI and Anthropic are expected to launch consumer agents to compete with Muse and Grok Bot in the coming weeks. x.com 

Booking Holdings' valuation is quite clearly attractive, though AI agents may roam around and book hotels directly for people. Google I/O raised concerns about most internet names, leaving it unclear whether agentic AI will really hurt Booking. x.com  x.com 

AI agents threaten Booking Holdings' margins. That view could change if the company adapts, pivots and proves otherwise. x.com 

AI agents may be turning deflationary, which could disrupt Booking, Expedia and other businesses with undifferentiated supply and low switching costs as agents drive industry-wide GMV deflation through price discovery. Per @JosephDevoy, Meta's Muse found and bought an auto policy saving $3,500 a year in minutes. Agents let anyone compare all inventory and book instantly, so friction is falling fast. Per HOTREC, most European hotels already have booking engines that agents could reach directly. … Show more

Booking Holdings' bull case faces a test from Meta's new Muse agent app, and the key question is whether Muse erodes it. The analysis looks at what sets Muse apart from other agents, what the market fears, hands-on use of the app to calibrate that fear, and whether the launch weakens the bullish thesis on Booking. x.com 

Booking Holdings, Tripadvisor, Expedia and Trip.com are in AI's crosshairs as AI apps make booking travel easy without them. In quick testing, booking a flight on Meta's new app was very easy, working through Duffel or the carrier's own website. x.com 

Booking Holdings faces a valid long-term bear case as AI agents could take a share of the 13-18% online travel take rate. Testing Meta's Muse and Instinct for a hotel search showed them drawing on Booking and Expedia inventory for now, but agents could eventually build direct ties with long-tail hotels, better reviews and pre- and post-booking service at lower fees. OTAs' own agents look mediocre and lack users' context. At 13x 2027 EPS it tempts as a contrarian long, but looks too tough. x.com  … Show more

Booking Holdings looks safe from Meta's Muse agent as more sites block it. A weekend rental-car search through Muse priced the same Hertz car, model and locations over 25% higher than the Booking app, and above Booking's website. Muse was also blocked from handling an Amazon customer-service issue, even via a PC browser, so it looks overhyped and usage may fade. x.com 

Meta's Muse is likely to gain a major consumer-agent advantage from a network linking its users' agents. Meta's 3.5bn daily platform users offer unmatched distribution; 25% of 10mn Muse signups use it daily, with early retention twice Threads' initial rate. Muse is the best pure consumer agent today, and the odds of a rival surpassing it are low, though it is early and execution matters. The stock prices in little beyond Meta's core business. x.com