Kayak has made its first major acquisition in two and a half years by snapping up German metasearch site Swoodoo for an undisclosed fee.

Kayak intends on running the two companies as separate entities but will “integrate technology best practices” between the pair over the coming months.

The deal sees Swoodoo chief executive Christian Saller take on the additional role of managing director for Kayak in Germany. The senior management team at Swoodoo will also take responsibility for both brands.

Kayak CEO Steve Hafner says:

“On many metrics, Swoodoo has been outperforming us in Germany. We’re glad to now have their team on our side of the table. This acquisition gives us a clear leadership position in Europe’s second largest online travel market.”

Deal rhetoric aside, Kayak’s move perhaps signifies that it is intends taking Europe seriously again after a low-key start in terms of traffic and the well known falling out and subsequent exit of its former European managing director Faisal Galaria.

Chief marketing officer Robert Birge says Europe is a “big focus” for the company and it will look to grow in markets elsewhere around the continent by either supporting its existing marketing efforts or through other acquisitions.

Ex-Skype executive Galaria was appointed as managing director for Kayak’s businesses outside the US in September 2008, but left under a cloud just nine months later in April 2009.

At the time it was understood that Galaria and other senior management in the US had disagreed over the strategy needed to build the Kayak business in Europe, a continent with challenges Hafner et al had not faced when creating the business in the US.

The Swoodoo deal is the first significant step on the acquisition trail for Kayak since it bought rival US metasearch site Sidestep in late-2007.

It recently offloaded the Travelpost user review site to the Expedia alumni startup NewTravelco.

The chatter generated by Kayak when it announced it is considering adding a booking element into its model appears not to have inspired others to think the same.

But whereas the topic was rarely mentioned before, such was the determination by metasearch players to keep the model simple, it is now, by virtue of Kayak’s move, getting some air time.

For example, Skyscanner and Swoodoo, both enjoying success in Europe in the metasearch sector, are far more philosophical about setting off such a seismic move to their existing businesses.

Take Skyscanner co-founder and chief executive Gareth Williams. He acknowledges the huge implications such a move by Kayak could have on the marketplace.

Is Skyscanner ruling it out?

Ask any metasearch player just two years ago if booking was an option they would consider and the answer would’ve been dismissed.

Not any more – Kayak appears to have changed many of its rivals’ thinking. Williams now says booking is “on the list” of things to do.

He quickly adds the caveat that the company needs “to get search right first”.

Christian Saller, CEO of Swoodoo, admits that booking is actually “something we discuss now all the time”.

So from fiercely defending the metasearch model for years (almost the reverse of Cheapflights and its proud defence of price comparison  until the launch of Zugu), in a short space of time the market has changed its thinking once again.