Super Bowl bound -- HomeAway online rental network to buy ad spot

The competition for second-home and vacation home rental listing must be getting ferocious. One of the largest web conglomerates, HomeAway.com, announced today it's going to kick off its most extensive national advertising campaign yet with a spot on the Super Bowl 2010 telecast Feb. 7th.

HomeAway (that's its logo, above) has consolidated a number of popular vacation home rental sites under its wing -- including VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) and VacationRentals.com -- to become, according to its own literature, "the worldwide leader of online vacation rentals, representing more than 425,000 vacation rental home listings across more than 120 countries."

No matter what other TV spots it might buy, this surely will be its most expensive entry ever into national markets. In recent years, a 30-second spot on the Super Bowl has cost in the neighborhood of $2.5-million to $3-million. One Website that has made a Super Bowl appearance for the past five years is the domain name host and Internet registrar GoDaddy.com.

For mom-and-pop outfits that buy into the HomeAway.com network in hopes of getting better visibility for their services, the Super Bowl spot may or may not translate into more, or more easily convertible, clicks by consumers. However, the HomeAway announcement sure raises the stakes for all Web-based vacation home market sites.

Less than a year ago, HomeAway made a splash with the announcement of an infusion of $250 million in private financing. The Austin-based outfit says that private home and condo rentals is the travel industry's fastest-growing segment.

HomeAway Buys EscapeHomes

Recognize this logo? It now covers the whole second home spectrum.Already "the largest international network of vacation rental Web sites," HomeAway has acquired EscapeHomes.com, a 10-year-old online marketplace for second homes and resort real estate sales.

With EscapeHomes, HomeAway now provides owners the tools to research and find real estate pros who specialize in second homes and their dream vacation, investment or retirement home.

“The purchase of EscapeHomes was a natural next step for our business, making HomeAway the only company specializing in second homes throughout the entire ownership process,” said Brian Sharples, CEO of HomeAway.

Thinking about Mexico? Try Guanajuato

More and more Americans are discovering how far their dollars go on house rentals and buys in Mexico. Guanajuato, not your typical American-filled tourist city, is a historic town in the north central part of the country founded in the 16th century, with silver mines and Spanish colonial-era architecture. (It's also the birthplace of painter Diego Rivera.) We note that the VRBO newsletter spotlights a 2-BR luxury Guanajuato casita as great for empty-nesters. Cost: $400 a night, $2100 a week. Both VRBO.com and HomeAway.com list additional Guanajuato places for prices beginning as low as $50 a night for an apartment.