I'm aware of HomeAway. That company has a different business model which is more of an online classifieds site. Pay $300 per year and post your home. Potential renters can browse for free. All transactions are person-to-person, whereas Airbnb takes a more active approach and handles money collection, complaints, etc.
Per my research, I think HomeAway does better in the traditional week-long vacation rental market whereas Airbnb is more geared up for the shorter duration stays in urban areas.
Correct. I've used HomeAway for two vacations. Their focus has always been the traditional vacation home owner. 99% of their listings are an aggregate of other perfessionally managed 7-day stay rental homes. Completely different business model, technology, culture, market, etc. HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples has remarked multiple times they see little to no overlap in their customers & listings. See his answer about half way down this 2011 WSJ article: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/10/13/homeaways-ceo...
Per my research, I think HomeAway does better in the traditional week-long vacation rental market whereas Airbnb is more geared up for the shorter duration stays in urban areas.