Just two months after taking the covers off the first iteration in the US, other countries around the world will soon be getting the Google Flight Search product.
Google says the international roll out of Flight Search is “coming soon”, although it is expected to be a staggered launch in individual markets rather than a simultaneous unveiling across the rest of the world.
In his first media interview since Google announced its intention to buy ITA Software for $700 million in July 2010, former-CEO of Massachusetts-based ITA, Jeremy Wertheimer, now vice president for travel at ITA Software by Google, would not disclose an exact timeframe for the launches.
One option would be to begin with relatively limited functionality in terms of the cities and airlines covered by Flight Search, similar to how the US launch was introduced in September this year.
This would depend on any agreements Google is able to negotiate over the course of the next few months, Wertheimer says.
It is not known if the policy of only carrying search results from airlines will be used in other markets as it was in the US, once again excluding online travel agencies from participating in results.
But there are now also the first significant signs that other travel products are also being lined up for launch, with car hire appearing to be an obvious contender.
Nothing is off the table as yet, is the impression being given by Wertheimer, although in true Google fashion the emphasis is on “testing” and “experimenting” with ideas, rather than confirming one way or the other that a particular product line in the industry will be next on the list.
Other likely areas considered might be tours and activities or vacation rentals, for example, although Wertheimer declined to divulge precise plans.
How to address one of the most significant challenges with expanding Flight Search outside of the US, where the general perception is that ITA’s coverage is weaker, is still unclear.
Wertheimer says Google will secure partnerships with both airlines or “data providers” to introduce Flight Search in other markets, although he refuses to disclose any further details or if any of fare shopping providers or the GDSs (Travelport‘s ePricing or the MetaPricer product from Amadeus, are just two of a number of sources) will be involved.
“We will work with whoever we can in order to get the data,” he says.
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About Kevin May
We are surprised by all the BUZZ surrounding this. And the WAVE of attention this not-product gets.
But, well, Google does something, best report it.
@johann – when you have *potential* to be the biggest travel search engine in the world (i’m sure Dohop does as well, of course), it is worth reporting…
you’re beginning to sound like Kayak.
We are of course worried about Google, as you say, because they do have a rather large muscle to flex, marketing and search-result-placing wise and therefor potential to become huge. There is no need to hide that.
We feel the same way about Kayak; they are finding flights based on the same flawed tech as Google. But sounding like them? I don’t know.
Following a meeting I was in with Dan Robb from the Google UK travel team, you might like to read my blog about GFlights and the package holiday sector in the UK:
http://dcjarvis.posterous.com/google-a-software-wolf-in-a-travel-sheeps-clo
I would wager that if Travelport, Amadeus or Vayant partner with Google, they are creating a pretty huge risk to their business.
Of course he sounds like Kayak, the pricecomparison guys are the first ones to go. AARRRRGGHHHHH, it hurts when your biz model gets discountinued.
Doing the same thing as the metas (which Google is trying to do) is simply Google reaching for more money, using their rather large place as a search engine. Though placing themselves as the first result for “flights from X to Y” is morally questionable. No?
Of course Dohop has other income channels, as we have an in-house and therefor customizable, software product. See following examples.
For airports: http://www.flyviamilano.eu/
For airlines: http://www.dohop.com/virginatlantic/
The first iteration (integrating ITA with Google) may look meta-like – and for a 100d project it is a pretty awesome (speed) result with interesting UI capabilities. Once the ITA capabilities are on the ‘Google platform’ the possible integrations (with other google products) are truly exciting.
Metas aspired to be the one-stop search destination – no meta has achieved that goal, and probably none ever will – including Google; but Google’s potential to keep consumers longer on their property, to create an even more relevant ‘starting point’ is huge. To this point, I thought the consumer behavior (returning to Google) shown in the CityBot presentation at PhoW was telling.
As a corporate travel planner can’t wait to get rid of the booking tool and simply book direct.
Haha! I love how everyone is calling Cry-ak out. Funny.