Leadership Changes - Kayak co-founder and CEO Steve Hafner has stepped down after 22 years, with CFO Peer Bueller appointed as the new CEO [1] - Hafner will transition to a newly created role as executive chair, focusing on advancing AI innovation at Booking Holdings [2] Company Background - Kayak was co-founded by Hafner and Paul English in 2004, becoming a leading travel metasearch platform alongside competitors like Skyscanner, Trivago, and Tripadvisor [4] - Booking Holdings acquired Kayak for $2.1 billion in 2013, as part of a strategy to own a metasearch company for in-house marketing and revenue generation from rival advertising [5] Market Dynamics - The rise of Google in generative AI and its dominance in hotel and flight metasearch has diminished the perceived value of metasearch platforms like Kayak [6] - In October 2025, Booking Holdings reported a $457 million writedown on Kayak, citing expected lower future cash flows and higher customer acquisition costs, largely due to changes in Google's search practices [7]