Vacation rental giant HomeAway, Inc. gets more social with the acquisition of Second Porch

HomeAway, Inc. has been one of the largest vacation rental websites for quite awhile now, with over 225,000 rentals to choose from and growing. In this day and age though, a website is not enough. Most online companies need to have a social arm of some sort to leverage the strength of digital social circles where trusted friends and friends of friends can refer, rate and review products and services. Enter Second Porch.

Second Porch is a unique service that allows home owners and property managers to market vacation homes to travelers through their own social networks on Facebook. According to HomeAway, Inc.'s CEO Brian Sharples, "The Second Porch team understands the intersection between social networking and vacation rentals … We are excited to leverage their expertise and bring their technology to our customers who list their vacation rentals with us, and the millions of travelers who visit our sites.”

Second Porch will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Porland, OR.

This comes at a good time with summer just around the corner and the vacation planning phase of the year in full swing for many travelers and their families.

[Official Press Release]

[Second Porch Acquisition FAQ]