• OTAs (Booking.com, Vrbo/HomeAway etc.) have a massive marketing budget and do promote your property across the globe. Without OTAs your Vacation Rental most likely would go unnoticed by a large percentage of the population. Potential guests can book their vacation directly on an OTA website.
• Metasearch engines (TripAdvisor, Google, tripping etc.) are equally popular and do make the booking process convenient for travelers as they can compare current rates of a wide range of accomodation providers at a glance. While metasearch engines – in contrast to OTAs – didn’t sell inventory in the past, this has changed recently. TripAdvisor for example now allows potential guest to book directly from the metasearch results („Instant Booking Button“). Currently the commission charged by a metasearch site is lower than that of an OTA.
• The bottom line – Don’t ignore metasearch engines as you would be missing out on potential guests and revenue …

(Source: via @LittleHotelier – Get the full story at http://www.littlehotelier.com/r/distribution/metasearch-engines-otas-whats-difference/ )