Google has established itself as the dominant leader in search engine technology, commanding about 65% of the market in that area (ahead of both Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing by a considerable margin).
Traditionally, Google has focused on general or universal search, meaning you can type in any term, phrase or keyword into Google and it will quickly find you relevant links and websites.
But industry experts are now pointing out the benefits of so-called ‘vertical search’ which is a much more focused type of search for a particular topic area. This has become apparent in travel and tourism with the rise of sites like Kayak and Vayama. These sites, which are known as ‘meta search’ sites, scour the web for the best deals and then take you to the sites that can supply the product or services you want (such as an airline site, or an on-line travel agency like Expedia).
Travel is a huge, perhaps the biggest, commercial area where on-line marketing and search meet, and the opportunities for a company like Google to expand its footprint in this space are widespread.
Their own web site points to how they help travel marketers reach consumers at all stages of the buying cycle – while they’re doing initial research, comparing specific options or getting ready to purchase. Through the use of organic SEO techniques, and more importantly (to Google), the firm’s paid programs like Ad Words, travel companies can get “highly-qualified traffic, with increased sales and ROI to match.”
Search engines in general, and Google specifically, are even more important than ever. Google points to a Jupiter Research survey that shows that Internet searches have surpassed “referrals from friends/ family” and “visits to a travel agent’s office” as the most commonly used source for determining where to go on vacation.
So, make no mistake Google is in the travel game, and would appear to be getting more serious about it, based on this series of developments:
Have you looked closely at Google Maps lately?
Google has been integrating hotel links into Maps and listing hotels with room rates. This could be a big door opener for them to tap into the very lucrative hotel advertising market, and possibly get a foothold in the commission-driven booking business – read on.
A new User Interface (UI): Google has quietly introduced a new three column UI which allows you to sort results by images, videos, blogs and news, etc. and then take it a step further by then drilling down deeper. This is good news for those of you in the travel industry who can offer up rich content because the new Google interface allows searchers to explore new angles of a subject. The importance of things like blogs, pictures, videos, and maps is greatly increased as a result and if you can take advantage of all these new search parameters, it will ultimately help you in search engine ranking and drive more traffic to your site.
If your website is older or you have not been investing in a universal online marketing plan, you can still take advantage of the many new features Google is offering with this new UI.
Google has acquired a team of engineers from a company called Ruba.
Ruba is a visual travel guide and tour review site that provides travelers with visual guides written by other travelers.
The original site was meant to offer users a way to visually browse through cities and their attractions around the world, offering photo-rich guides and an emphasis on making it easy to quickly discover new locations. Guides are all written and submitted by users, with Ruba pulling from Google and Flickr to help pinpoint locations and provide some sample photos (users can submit their own, too). The site, which is similar in some ways to TripAdvisor, features integration with Twitter and Facebook Connect, allowing users to broadcast where they’re headed and ask friends for input.
This gives Google access to great display technology, plus a boatload of content – which, for the moment is an area where they obviously lag behind the likes of TripAdvisor and other on linen travel guides.
Google is reported to be ready to make an offer to buy a company called ITA Software.
This could be the biggest shake-up of them all.
ITA provides the booking functionality for Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and even Google’s rival, Bing Travel. It has been estimated that more than 50 percent of airfare searches conducted in the United States use ITA software in some form or another. With this technology, Google could virtually re-shape the entire the entire online travel landscape. Google could in fact become an OTA itself and rather than just refer traffic to booking sites, they could engage in the same commission-based model that Expedia and Travelocity employ now, effectively rendering those companies obsolete.
Carol Rheem, director of research of PhoCusWright market research said, “If Google unleashes a meta search product, its brand power and pivotal position in the travel planning process gives it the potential to impact consumer traffic patterns in a major way. (Google's) interest in ITA is a signal that the search giant is serious about building a robust travel offering.”
Some experts argue that Google has no intention of becoming an online travel agency like Expedia or Travelocity because of the large amount of advertising revenue it already receives from travel companies and so it doesn't want to do anything to impact that part of its business.
But even without travel-booking capabilities, a Google-ITA partnership will definitely change how search results are displayed and provide the user more feature-rich information.
Said Joe Buhler, a senior analyst with Phocuswright, “The more relevant Google can make the search, the more useful Google will be as a tool for planning trips. Travel search is a huge vertical, and you can assume that Google has some interesting plans or else they wouldn't go after it.”
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