Articles tagged “google”

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, along with his fellow hotel CEOs are right: It's not the "disruptors" like Airbnb that are the biggest threat, but the already established tech giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Alibaba, and others that are the real competition for the hotel industry.

While Airbnb has been brashly adding independent hotels, HomeAway has been quietly doing the same — although it has been using an entirely different business model given its ties to parent Expedia. Curation may have its place, but all of these companies realize that the more inventory and choice they give consumers, the more likely they are to spend on a stay.

Yelp's efforts to see tighter regulation of Google's business practices could have more success this time around than several years ago, when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission dropped the ball. European Union regulators have really cast the previous U.S. effort in a shameful light, and the Trump team may be more sympathetic than the Obama administration.

Yelp's efforts to see tighter regulation of Google's business practices could have more success this time around than several years ago, when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission dropped the ball. European Union regulators have really cast the previous U.S. effort in a shameful light, and the Trump team may be more sympathetic than the Obama administration.

We come in peace, a top Google executive essentially said while addressing the travel industry on Thursday at Skift Forum Europe in Berlin. One possible industry response might be: "Trust, but verify."

Is Google on the road toward becoming an online travel agency? Color us skeptical on that one. How will voice-based search change the game? Google's Rob Torres will certainly express his views on these topics at Skift Forum Europe.

It will be interesting to see how much energy The Infatuation devotes to Zagat and how loyal the older brand's readers will be following years of neglect compounded by radically changed consumer habits and a slew of more savvy competition.

Trivago views Google Hotels as a separate channel from Google AdWords, and it is testing participation now that sites such as its own are no longer banned. Then comes the question of how profitable using Google Hotels would be, and whether Trivago wants to spend a lot of money in a competitive product.

It has become harder to find the online travel agencies with the lowest prices in Google's metasearch. The apparent change this week implicitly favors travel giants, which can afford to dominate ad auctions for online search.

Facebook isn't really in the conversation yet when it comes to competing with Google in travel advertising. But Facebook has the ability to reach travelers at various stages of the trip-planning process so it has the potential to be even more disruptive than it has been.