ITA specializes in providing information from many different airlines, including flight times and ticket prices, using a tool called QPX [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> When Google announced in July that it was buying ITA Software for 700 million dollars, there were mixed reactions from the agencies that would be directly affected, and quite a bit of opposition to the sale.

ITA specializes in providing information from many different airlines, including flight times and ticket prices, using a tool called QPX to organize the information into a searchable database.  Online travel agencies make use of the QPX software and so do many airlines including American, Continental, United, Virgin Atlantic Airways and others.

Several of the leading travel firms have formed a group called FairSearch to oppose the sale, fearing that Google, the Internet giant, will be able to manipulate and take over the air travel marketplace online.  Members of FairSearch, including Expedia, TripAdvisor, Kodak, Farelogix Inc. and Sabre Holdings launched a website at FairSearch.org and made a statement to the effect that Google’s ownership of the software might be detrimental to the best interests of consumers.

In arguments against the sale, FairSearch members said that with Google having sole proprietorship of ITA Software, the result might be higher prices and fewer choices.  They also feel that Google might limit their access to the software and push all the online traffic to its own sites, for its own profit.

Google argues that the purchase will not jeopardize any rival businesses and is intended to build more tools that customers can use to facilitate travel searches.  Senior managers at Google have said that the company will honour all of ITA’s existing contracts and agreements, and that Google will not be selling tickets online.

Thomas Barnett, former head of the Justice Department antitrust division and now counsel for Expedia, agreed that Google’s immense power in the search market could allow it to lead customers in the direction it wants them to go, which could ultimately limit their choices.

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In March, Google choose to add hotel links to its Map app by listing hotels along with their room rates depending on where users searched.

They also are said to be negotiating paying $1b for ITA [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Google is once again reaching for control of another online business avenue by taking on the profitable online travel booking business.

In March, Google choose to add hotel links to its Map app by listing hotels along with their room rates depending on where users searched.

They also are said to be negotiating paying $1b for ITA software, which can be used to develop fare shopping capabilities for online airlines, travel agencies, and fare only search queries for sites like Kayak and Bing Travel.

By placing fares directly into Google search results customers will become more enticed with their applications when it comes time to plan their holidays which could challenge some fare sites that are used to a steady stream of traffic, as users could simply do a Google travel site instead of searching for a fare seeker website.

In fact, at the moment Google users can place cities and dates into the search box, but they receive links to booking sites which could change very soon.

For the moment Google will not issue a comment about the possibility of purchasing the travel software, but a spokeswoman for the company did confess that they always think about travel and how to make it easier for users.

Analysts of the company predict that Google is interested in offering information to users but is not likely to be concerned with actual bookings because it receives advertising revenue from travel agencies and would not want to deal with the intricacies of booking transactions or the responsibility.

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