Expedia, Kayak, Sabre Holdings and Farelogix have unveiled the public face to their opposition of the Google-ITA Software deal with the launch of FairSearch.org.
The quartet are named as backers of the site, with Expedia brands TripAdvisor and Hotwire and Sabre’s Travelocity also cited as a “group of businesses united in support of a healthy internet future, where greater consumer choice and economic growth are driven by competition, transparency and innovation in online search”.
The launch of FairSearch comes as the Department of Justice continues its probe into the deal and Google attempts to appease a nervous industry through talks with online travel agencies and airlines.
The consortium says it stands for two “principles” in online search:
- Transparency: Consumers – not search engines – should choose winners in the marketplace. Consumers benefit from more choices in the search marketplace competing to win users, innovating to improve products and displaying results transparently. When search providers engage in search discrimination – manipulating search results to promote a favored product and punish competitors – consumers pay the price.
- Innovation: Consumers benefit when competition in the marketplace forces companies to continue to innovate and develop the best solutions for online search. No one company should be allowed to use its dominance to foreclose competitors from the search marketplace – particularly in high-traffic specialty segments, like travel, jobs and real estate.
Missing from the consortium at this stage are key ITA customers Orbitz, Bing, Fly.com, FareCompare, CheapTickets or any of the airlines which currently use the software firm’s system such as United, US Airways, Air Canada and Continental.
A Google official says in reaction to the launch of FairSearch:
“When a user is searching on Google for a flight, we’d like to provide a more useful answer in the form of flight results, just as other search engines do today.
“We plan on building flight search tools that will drive more traffic and potential customers to airlines’ and online travel agencies’ websites, and so we’ve been encouraged by the support this deal has received from the online travel industry.”
Google also says it has received support from a number of industry players (incl commentators on Tnooz.
ITA Software declined to comment.
Expedia is just one of many travel companies which has expressed its concern over the $700 million proposed acquisition announce in June this year, confirming in September that it had held talks with the Department of Justice.
The ramifications of the deal have also been felt across the Atlantic with Amadeus predicting European regulators are likely to look at the deal amid suggestions that Google should be held to the same oversight in the EU as the GDSs.
FairSearch has produced four presentations outlining the background to the deal, its opposition (“The End of Fair Search”), wider problems around the acquisition and views from experts around the industry (incl Tnooz).
The group is now setting its position in very clear terms and preparing – and seemingly hoping – for a fight:
“Google’s proposal to buy ITA Software, the leading source of critical air fare software used by search engines and travel sites alike, threatens the competitive online travel search market, and could limit the competition and innovation that benefits consumers.
“If the transaction is approved, consumers should expect to face higher prices and less choice when searching for travel online.”
Interestingly the consortium is also taking the consumer route, asking for them to support the campaign.
Related posts:
About Kevin May
Was there a law passed that says everyone must go through Google? I thought not. I would respectfully suggest to the members of this consortium that their efforts may be better concentrated on ensuring that their own products consistently deliver the best results. If one site gave me the best prices every time, then I’d use it every time…
@david – if only it were that simple.
With gazillions of consumers using Google as their starting point, intermediaries such as Expedia, Kayak et al are down the foodchain, thus their nervousness.
Well perhaps they should work on getting themselves up the foodchain, rather than saying “It’s not fair that we’re down the foodchain” then?
As I say, if these companies concentrated on making what they do brilliant and marketed effectively, then people would type their URL into the browser rather than searching through Google (or Bing etc). The reasons to be worried are fairly obvious – and perhaps these companies were too (lazily?) reliant on Google in the first place.
It’s a fairly simple choice: blame the pitch and the referee or improve your game.
Here is the question. As an industry would we prefer an “Amazon.com” style situation – one big dominant player (but with lots of gaps around the edges that can be innovated in) – or do we prefer 50 medium sized companies – who – collectively – leave few gaps for new entrants.
Now a “really good” Amazon.com (big central site, industry dominant) might leave few holes for entrepreneurs to innovate in. I am not convinced (yet) that google can, simultaneously in multiple regional markets, out execute all the competitors. That is a really big ask. (and if they don’t do a multi-region simultaneous launch then they risk being outflanked by existing OTAs / metasearch pouring all their resources into regions that Google haven’t yet launched in – once Google have shown their hand in the US)
There will be a lot of holes left around the edges. Probably more holes than there are currently (if as a result of the Google site some of the 50 medium sized players can no longer compete).
So it could be a bright time for entrepreneurs. Especially if Google do what they have been doing in other sectors and start buying up companies around the edges of their solution….
Anyway, what I think I am saying is that the “fairsearch” innovation argument doesn’t stand up.
Wow, a bunch of travel companies threatened by Google because they can always do it better, faster and cheaper.
If you think Google-ITA deal is going to be a challenge for your business, then improve your business model and way of doing things to maintain customers and deliver a better service proposition.
If you can’t keep up with your customers needs, then get out of the way, stop crying to papa Government for protection, and let capitalism run its course.
On the same day that Expedia publicly protests against Google’s lack of transparency they introduce opaque rates to their own offering.
The USDOJ are going to be perplexed I’d imagine.
Well! the same principles of “Transparency” and “Innovation” may be applicable for general search offered by Google as well. So, shall we say as Google is a dominant player, its algorithm may biase a search. Google would not have dominated the market had its search would not have given appropriate results. Same way, fare search will also be tested by consumer and Google will fall or rise accordingly. Also, it is unfair to say that a dominant player always wins. Otherwise, Google would have won in their initiatives like Wave, Buzz… but they failed miserably.
This really made me laugh, I hope no one takes this seriously.
Transparency:
“Consumers benefit from choice (as long as that choice doesn’t include google)”
Innovation:
Are they suggesting Google don’t support and encourage innovation? I’ve not seen anything that exciting coming out of these companies maybe a little push is what they need.
Also aren’t half these companies under investigation for price fixing anyway? Lets hope Google brings a bit of fare competition and some exciting innovation back into the travel industry.
ITA Software by Google is such a great deal..
Airfare searching is easy and fast.
Love it.