Articles tagged “google”

Google has developed solid travel booking and itinerary management tools, but won't push fully into the online travel booking business because of its lucrative role in online advertising. It looks like Google's bifurcated travel strategy will continue for some time.

Google clearly places its own travel businesses front and center in its search results to the detriment of competitors. Google argues that this benefits consumers. If you buy that argument, then you also probably believe that Google always knows best.

It's no surprise that travelers are starting to place a higher priority on customer experience over loyalty programs, considering how uncomfortable air travel has become. Google's data just proves it.

Much of the metasearch business is beyond the control of the metasearch companies themselves because their largest advertisers can switch things up five minutes ago. Just ask Trivago, and to a lesser extent, TripAdvisor. The best they can hope to do is to diversify their advertiser base and to keep plugging away.

In online travel, Google always gets a cut.

A lot of Trivago's problems, including an advertising diss from Booking Holdings, are beyond the company's control so it is doing what it can, namely reducing advertising spend and headcount in an attempt to get into the black. Speaking of Booking Holdings, Trivago may need a dot-com-like Priceline comeback to right the ship.

We still think there's a pretty good chance that we'll see Expedia-branded hotels in the near future if not sooner.

Online advertising can be annoying, and even more so when it's missing the mark. Google's Rob Torres talks about how the company is trying to at least improve the relevance of the ads users see.

With another multibillion dollar fine handed down, we might be getting nearer to the European Commission taking a closer look at Google's travel products.

Of course Google could become an online travel agency if it wanted to, but why would it want to jeopardize such a lucrative revenue stream in terms of ad dollars it receives from booking sites?