TripAdvisor and Google Identified as Booking Threats – 25 Moments in 2015

When the U.S. Justice Department cleared the way for Expedia Inc. to acquire Orbitz Worldwide in September 2015, the DOJ cited the emergence of TripAdvisor Instant Booking and Google flights and hotels “with related booking functionality” as competitive counterweights to online travel agency consolidation.

Indeed, TripAdvisor is much further along than Google in becoming a booking platform but the duo likely will become a challenge for online travel agencies such as Booking.com and Expedia, as well as hotel chains, as TripAdvisor and Google siphon off bookings that might have otherwise gone directly to online travel agency and hotel websites.

Priceline Group sites Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline.com, as well as Expedia brands, will cooperate with the TripAdvisor-Google booking trend as part of the new reality, although they would have rather seen this development fail to materialize.

The Full Story:

• Expedia Antitrust Regulators Argue That Orbitz Is Too Small To Matter
• Booking.com Goes Live in TripAdvisor Instant Booking With Pervasive Branding
• Interview: Google’s Head of Travel On Its Transition To Booking Site