Articles tagged “alphabet”

Frenemy relationships have a storied history in the push and pull of the travel industry. Tripadvisor's relationship with Google seems to have improved, and there are probably several areas where they might collaborate further.

Google faces a tougher hill to climb than Booking, although the European Commission's statement of objections puts Booking's Etraveli acquisition in doubt.

Alphabet officials didn't mention ChatGPT, Bing or Microsoft during the company's first quarter earnings call. But like modern-day bards, they gave an impassioned defense of their abilities to meet the artificial intelligence challenge.

Google is actively taking a new look at its business priorities, propelled by companywide bets on artificial intelligence. Google Travel is clearly an important part of its advertising business, but will it be as shiny as others?

Why doesn't Google promote Google Travel as a one-stop shop? The layoffs at Google Flights show there's too much ad revenue in play on the Google.com side of the flights business to merit such an all-in approach.

Google advises "we never sell your personal information." But it should add the following disclaimer: But we make an almost unfathomable amount of money from it.

Although some advertisers reined in their budgets for some Google products, the company's travel and retail verticals led Google's search and other revenues in the third quarter.

Searches for travel — and retail items — propelled Google's advertising business in the second quarter, although one executive acknowledged that the travel sector is "experiencing some challenges."

Superapps and connected trips would take a hit if Google were forced to self-immolate. However, competition would flourish if authorities curtail Google bias.

Waymo's test is a baby step — autonomous vehicles will serve the perimeter of the airport, avoiding the front door of terminals themselves. But it's the Alphabet unit's first foray into serving an airport. If it works, the days of driverless cars and profitable ridehailing services will edge closer.