Expedia Brings Voice Bookings, Cancellations and Rewards to Google Assistant
Skift Take
Voice-based search will not only have technology issues to overcome, but in an era when news of data breaches is commonplace, companies such as Expedia will have to address the personalization and privacy issues as well.
Expedia continues to bet on voice-based search as it debuted hotel search, booking, cancellations, and loyalty point access on Google Assistant through a new Expedia Action.
The move is similar to Expedia's capabilities on other virtual assistants, Amazon Alexa devices, which debuted in 2016.
Speaking at Skift Tech Forum 2018 in Silicon Valley in June, before Tuesday's Expedia announcement, Tony Donohoe, then-chief technology officer at Expedia Holdings, acknowledged that the early days of voice capabilities might be "brittle" but, as with other new technologies, innovation will come in waves.
"Without a doubt, voice is our future," said Donohoe, who subsequently moved on to become chief technology officer at SoFi. "There is just no question in our minds."
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