It is a guest post by Kate Croston.Step aside, Orbitz. Move over, Priceline. Google has further solidified its position as a one stop shop – the search engine now allows you to search, compare, and book flights. All you have to do is go to google.com/flights.
The move hasn’t come completely out of the blue, though. In April Google purchased ITA –a company that develops software for the travel and airline industry – for $700 million, and in May Google began offering flight schedules. It was only a matter of time until Google put the acquisition to further use. In addition to the normal travel site amenities like searching, comparing, and booking, Google Flight Search will also show you a chart detailing which days are going to cost you the most to fly, and give you suggestions on where to travel.
"This is only the beginning of the transformation of general search into travel search that will save the consumer steps in the travel planning process," travel technology analyst Norm Rose said.
And this really is just the beginning. Currently you are unable to book international flights and flights to smaller U.S. cities through Google, and only coach seating and round trip flights are accessible, though it can be expected that those options will be available sooner or later for consumers.
However this new foray into flights has understandably been wildly unpopular with websites like Kayak, who make their money off of being an all-inclusive travel site. Several sites vehemently contested Google’s foray into flight scheduling, but the Department of Justice let Google through despite the oppositions.
“We recognize Google is a formidable competitor, but they haven’t been successful in every vertical they’ve entered. We use multiple data sources and proprietary technology, all of which helps us in our efforts to provide people with comprehensive, fast and accurate answers to their flight search needs” countered Robert Birge, who is the chief marketing officer for Kayak.com.
And so, Google continues on its path towards world domination. Soon enough, I’m sure we’ll be able to do anything and everything through the search engine. As it is, there’s really not much we can’t do through the site. Except may be banking… And that’s probably coming soon.
Author Bio:
Kate Croston is a freelance writer, holds a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass
Communication. She writes guest posts for different sites and loves contributing internet service related topics. Questions or comments can be sent to: katecroston.croston09 @ gmail.com.
The move hasn’t come completely out of the blue, though. In April Google purchased ITA –a company that develops software for the travel and airline industry – for $700 million, and in May Google began offering flight schedules. It was only a matter of time until Google put the acquisition to further use. In addition to the normal travel site amenities like searching, comparing, and booking, Google Flight Search will also show you a chart detailing which days are going to cost you the most to fly, and give you suggestions on where to travel.
"This is only the beginning of the transformation of general search into travel search that will save the consumer steps in the travel planning process," travel technology analyst Norm Rose said.
And this really is just the beginning. Currently you are unable to book international flights and flights to smaller U.S. cities through Google, and only coach seating and round trip flights are accessible, though it can be expected that those options will be available sooner or later for consumers.
However this new foray into flights has understandably been wildly unpopular with websites like Kayak, who make their money off of being an all-inclusive travel site. Several sites vehemently contested Google’s foray into flight scheduling, but the Department of Justice let Google through despite the oppositions.
“We recognize Google is a formidable competitor, but they haven’t been successful in every vertical they’ve entered. We use multiple data sources and proprietary technology, all of which helps us in our efforts to provide people with comprehensive, fast and accurate answers to their flight search needs” countered Robert Birge, who is the chief marketing officer for Kayak.com.
And so, Google continues on its path towards world domination. Soon enough, I’m sure we’ll be able to do anything and everything through the search engine. As it is, there’s really not much we can’t do through the site. Except may be banking… And that’s probably coming soon.
Author Bio:
Kate Croston is a freelance writer, holds a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass
Communication. She writes guest posts for different sites and loves contributing internet service related topics. Questions or comments can be sent to: katecroston.croston09 @ gmail.com.
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