Google’s New Flight Search Tool Has Raised Eyebrows In The Industry
If you live in the USA you may have already noticed when you search for domestic flights a Google flights search result appears at the top of the page giving you the latest information and flight time tables. It seems as though the days when you had to trawl through each individual airlines website or use intermediary sites such as Expedia.com and Kayak.com may be coming to an end as Google has all the information you need displayed at the top of the SERPS with links to booking pages. Google state that they are looking to expand this service to international flights where you will be able to search for flights leaving the U.S.A to Africa for you to take that Botswana safari you have always wanted to do, or you can check your flight details on the trip to London you have been planning for years but have never got around to booking it.
The new flight tool feature has been met with a mixed response by the travel industry as many companies such as Expedia may no longer receive visitors to book flights through their website as Google directs the customer straight to the airlines website. Currently Expedia and Kayak are two of the biggest travel intermediary companies offering flights all over the world and have millions of customers every year to book flights to Africa for those heading out on a Namibia safari as well as those people heading out on business trips various other types of holiday flights.
Many companies now believe that Google is abusing its power as they are taken custom away from intermediary sites and transferring them straight to the airline. From a consumers point of view it’s a wonderful concept as it shows you all the information you need to know at the single click of a button. In the future you will be able to search using this new innovative tool to plan your flights to Tanzania so you are able to climb Kilimanjaro or plan a trip to Costa Rica for your honeymoon. There is no end in sight for the capabilities of this tool and whilst it’s all good news for the airlines, the intermediary companies are going to have to think of a different way to tackle the problem.
January 28, 2012 | Posted by mping66
Categories:
Tags: 

