When Google acquired ITA flight software a couple of years back, a group of competitors went ballistic warning of unfair practices by the Internet search and ad giant. Most people back then blew off what FairSearch was contending, this author included. As it turns out, a half dozen court cases won and a lot of water under the hotel search bridge, and potential guests really have no choice at all. Google has rigged the hotel booking game into an ad recommendation one.
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Bing Travel Down Another Notch On Farecast Death [Or Is It?]
Bing, the only search entity out there that stood a chance of competing with Google, has sent to the dead pool Farecast. What was one of Bing’s most interesting tools is another casualty of what some experts say is an apathetic Microsoft when it comes to search.
WIHP’s 2014 Marketing Bucket List
2014 brings with a new year great new possibilities in every industry. Travel not being the least of these, World Independent Hotels Promotion (WIHP) just compiled a Slideshare bucket list of benchmark hotel and marketing items not to overlook. This will be one of those years technology provides a fast forward effect for competitiveness, and […]
US Government Approves Google-ITA Deal
The Department of Justice has approved a $700 million deal that will see Google acquire ITA Software, a travel technology company. The DoJ released a detailed ruling outlining the approval, along with some restrictions. As part of the deal, Google must license QPX software from ITA to airfare websites under “commercially reasonable terms”, continue to […]
Bing-Kayak: Travel Search or Dumb Meets Dumber?
The still raging war for online travel supremacy continues with news from Microsoft and Kayak. The pending sale of ITA to Google has spurred some fairly ridiculous allegiances and deals, not the least of which is the latest Bing “slash” Kayak pairing. Let’s face it, Microsoft has already spent two king’s ransoms trying to beat Google, and now this?