????如今的網(wǎng)站設(shè)計(jì)大多光鮮亮麗,，現(xiàn)代感十足,，而布萊恩?沙普爾斯運(yùn)營的一個(gè)網(wǎng)站，風(fēng)格明顯有些落伍,，甚至有點(diǎn)丑陋,。但每當(dāng)他打算對(duì)度假租屋服務(wù)網(wǎng)站VRBO.com進(jìn)行美化時(shí)，總會(huì)發(fā)生令人困惑的事情：客戶預(yù)訂數(shù)量不升反降,。

????沙普爾斯是VRBO母公司HomeAway的CEO,，旗下還有VacationRentals.com和其他十幾個(gè)在全球提供假期房屋租賃的網(wǎng)站。他說：“網(wǎng)站越難看,，反倒越能帶來好的結(jié)果,。”所以,，沙普爾斯表示,，VRBO在逐步修改網(wǎng)站設(shè)計(jì)?！叭绻覀?cè)谝灰怪g完成網(wǎng)站美化,，恐怕反而會(huì)給我們的業(yè)務(wù)帶來滅頂之災(zāi)?！?/p>

????不論是網(wǎng)站過時(shí)的外觀,，還是圍繞競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手之一——媒體寵兒Airbnb的各種傳言，似乎都不能阻礙這家公司前進(jìn),。HomeAway最近發(fā)布收益報(bào)告之后,，公司股價(jià)在一天內(nèi)暴漲超過12%，達(dá)到歷史最高的50美元左右,，公司市值超過了42億美元,。上周，HomeAway收購了房產(chǎn)管理和度假出租手機(jī)初創(chuàng)公司Glad To Have You,。后者通過開發(fā)手機(jī)應(yīng)用,，幫助業(yè)主與承租人進(jìn)行溝通。目前,，收購交易的價(jià)格并么有公布,。

????HomeAway的收益報(bào)告一方面讓投資者松了一口氣,，另一方面也相當(dāng)于通過了對(duì)沙爾普斯的認(rèn)證。HomeAway大部分收入來自業(yè)主在這家公司出租房屋支付的手續(xù)費(fèi),。但去年晚些時(shí)候,，HomeAway推出了一種新的選擇，允許業(yè)主免費(fèi)展示物業(yè),，只要在達(dá)成預(yù)定后支付手續(xù)費(fèi)即可,，做法類似于Airbnb。投資者擔(dān)心,，免費(fèi)展示可能影響HomeAway的核心業(yè)務(wù)。雖然網(wǎng)站新增71,000套免費(fèi)展示物業(yè),，但付費(fèi)展示的數(shù)量依然在以健康的速度增長,。在一份投資者報(bào)告中，摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）分析師道格?安穆斯寫道,，結(jié)果顯示,，到目前為止“尚未出現(xiàn)現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品利潤侵蝕的情況?！?/p>

????沙普爾斯表示,，免費(fèi)展示“為不放心預(yù)付費(fèi)用的業(yè)主打開了一個(gè)新市場(chǎng)?！边@家公司大多數(shù)客戶每年的平均租金收入為28,000美元,，預(yù)先付費(fèi)對(duì)他們來說依然是筆更劃算的買賣。公司在全球共有890,000套付費(fèi)展示的物業(yè),，2013年共產(chǎn)生了3.46億美元收入,，同比增長24%，凈收入達(dá)到1,800萬美元,。

????沙爾普斯于2005年成立了HomeAway,，先后收購了17家競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手網(wǎng)站，逐漸將公司打造成了一家全球性的公司,。沙爾普斯對(duì)于圍繞Airbnb和其他所謂共享制經(jīng)濟(jì)的典型代表產(chǎn)生的輿論喧囂非常不滿,。

????沙爾普斯說：“在HomeAway所處的行業(yè)，人們一直以來都在分享,，而HomeAway就是這個(gè)行業(yè)一個(gè)很好的典范,。HomeAway賺錢了，這就是我們跟Airbnb的區(qū)別,?！?/p>

????Airbnb拒絕發(fā)表評(píng)論。

????雖然Airbnb和HomeAway在業(yè)務(wù)上存在區(qū)別,，但兩者似乎難免產(chǎn)生碰撞,。雖然Airbnb以合租業(yè)務(wù)起家,，但了解這家公司的人表示，目前在公司掛牌展示的物業(yè),，有三分之二都是整租物業(yè),。Airbnb公司主攻舊金山、紐約或柏林等城市市場(chǎng),。而相反,，HomeAway卻致力于房屋或公寓整租。在它網(wǎng)站展示的物業(yè)大多位于度假勝地,，比如夏威夷或太浩湖,。HomeAway的物業(yè)中，約有40%由管理公司展示,，而不是業(yè)主本人,。

????In this day of flashy, modern web design, Brian Sharples runs a site that is decidedly antiquated, and well, kind of ugly. But every time he tries to spiff up VRBO.com, the vacation rentals site, something confounding happens: Customers book fewer properties.

????"The uglier it is, the better it converts," says Sharples, who is CEO of HomeAway, the parent company of VRBO, VacationRentals.com, and about a dozen other sites that offer vacation homes around the world. That's why, Sharples says, VRBO has introduced design changes very gradually. "If we did it overnight, it would crush the business."

????Neither the dated look nor the buzz surrounding one of its competitors -- media darling Airbnb -- seems to be holding back the company. Following HomeAway's (AWAY) most recent earnings report, the company's shares soared more than 12% in a single day to an all-time-high of nearly $50, giving the company a market value of more than $4.2 billion. Last week, HomeAway acquiredGlad To Have You, which makes mobile apps that help property owners communicate with renters, for an undisclosed sum.

????The HomeAway earnings report came as a relief to investors and as a validation to Sharples. HomeAway earns the majority of its revenue from fees that property owners pay to list their rentals. But late last year, HomeAway introduced a new option that allowed owners to list properties for free and pay only when they book a rental, like they do on Airbnb. Investors had feared that the free listings could hurt HomeAway's core business. But paid listings continued to grow at a healthy pace, even as the site added some 71,000 new free listings. In a report to investors, Doug Anmuth, an analyst with J.P. Morgan, wrote that the results indicated that so far "there is no cannibalization of existing products."

????The free listings "opened up a new market for people renting their properties who were afraid to pay up front," Sharples says. For most of his customers, who earn $28,000 a year in rentals on average, paying up front remains a better deal. The company says it has some 890,000 paid listings worldwide, which in 2013 generated $346 million in revenue, a 24% rise from a year earlier, and $18 million in net income.

????Sharples, who founded HomeAway in 2005 and has since expanded it into a global enterprise in part through the acquisition of 17 rival sites, often bristles at the buzz around Airbnb and other poster children of the so-called sharing economy.

????"HomeAway is an example of an industry where people have been sharing stuff for a long time," Sharples says. "HomeAway makes money. That's the difference between us and Airbnb."

????Airbnb declined to comment.

????Airbnb and HomeAway may be in different businesses, but they appear to be on something of a collision course. While Airbnb got its start with shared rentals, people close to the company say that about two-thirds of its listings now are for entire properties. The company still focuses primarily on urban markets like San Francisco, New York, or Berlin. In contrast, HomeAway is dedicated to renting entire homes or condos and most of its listings are in vacation destinations like Hawaii or Lake Tahoe. Nearly 40% of HomeAway's properties are listed by management companies, not by homeowners.