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.
Google hotel finder
London’s Sheraton Park Tower – Starwood Digital Superstar
There are a lot of hotels engaged in social media, and presenting their wares online. Hilton to the smallest Mom & Pop cabins on the remotest river, everyone wants in on the digital superhighway. Today, a lone tweet sent me reeling back toward an old friend from childhood, Sheraton and Starwood Hotel’s fine Kightsbridge luxury hotel, the Sheraton Park Towers.
Kiev Rooms for Euro 2012 – A Costly Proposition
In news from Ukraine and the upcoming 2012 European Championships, organizers are concerned with keeping down hospitality prices for the coming wave of travelers headed East. Along with integrating their efforts with those of sister venues in Poland, soccer fans being fleeced seems to be tops on the agenda of late. But is the concern already too late and too little?
HotelSweep Adds More Depth to Hotel Search
Could hotel search get any more competitive than it is already? Well apparently, err, yes it can. The newly released HotelSweep is the latest fledgling in a long line of hotel search tools to hit the web, promising to make looking for a hotel even more convenient than it is already.
Who’s the Big Bad Wolf of Hotel Marketing?
Just out, the Distribution Channel Analysis study via the American Hotel Lodging Association (AH&LA) and STR, has been released. The detailed study, supposedly aimed at helping “all” hoteliers better understand hotel room distribution, discusses distribution channel mix, among other salient hotel profitability instances. But, is the study really meant for all hoteliers, or just the fat cats?