I've thought a lot about Google taking a serious run at the Travel category over the past few years. Mostly because that's part of what I was paid to do, and also because it makes a lot of sense. So I was interested to see Mathew Ingram's piece in today's Globe and Mail (which seems to have spun out of this blog posting) where he talks at length about the prospect. For the most part, I think he got it right.

For one thing, Google certainly has designs on being a portal, if their recent moves with Finance and Real Estate are any indication. Beyond that, their competitors are already there in Travel, sorta, with Yahoo!FareChase leading the way and msn Travel (in typical Microsoft fashion) representing a half-step towards a fully integrated travel "thing". As well, there is a lot of money at play, both from an ad and a distribution cost perspective, and they have reason to want to maximize it. Finally, if they have been nervous about upsetting the ad-revenue apple cart in the travel category (huge numbers) that nervousness has likely been reduced by things like IAC's purchase of Ask.com. IAC maintains a controlling interest in Expedia, and with this purchase is both a big customer of, and a direct competitor to, Google.

However, I think that there is a big difference between Google ramping up their travel "experience" and them actually fully taking on the OTAs. In terms of them having some multi-site search experience and sending traffic from that to an OTA or a supplier (airline, hotel etc.). that seems like a pretty obvious thing. Suppliers would love it, and the competitive gauntlet has already been thrown down.

But actually selling travel? Yikes. Why would they? Call centres, rules and regs, etc. etc. Easier to just further solidify their role as gate-keeper, and take advantage of the lack of loyalty and brand meaning that these guys have to crank out the ad money.

Also, worth noting that most of this applies less here in Canada. For a bunch of reasons, the OTA and Supplier landscape is different and it is less likely that the existing dominant players here (Expedia.ca, AirCanada.com and WestJet.com) would suffer or benefit much from such a move by Google. Why? Well, the competition is lighter here, they often have exclusive inventory, offer pricing of global inventory in Canadian dollars, work better and have brand meaning that brings a lot of business direct.

Technorati tags: google, yahoo, travel, expedia, travelocity, orbitz, aircanada, westjet

News today on the Yahoo! blog of the new-and-improved Yahoo! FareChase. I just checked it out and have one word: Wow.

The hotel integration is tremendous. They are pulling from snazzy tools like Flickr and various user generated reviews, are shoveling reach to multiple possible sellers, snapping in some very cool satellite imagery, and are even managing to maintain good integration with their legacy "partner," Travelocity. Lots more revenue potential for Yahoo!, more selling opportunities for others including the supplier, and a richer customer experience. A win all around.

So, where oh where is Troogle? Calling Mountainview! Jane? Hello?

More discussion here and here.

Tags: yahoo, yahoo farechase, travelocity, google

I took the car today for the first time in a long time, and ended up driving westbound on the Gardiner. Big news! Looks like Travelocity.ca has changed their mega-billboard down there. And now? It's almost legible! You can almost make out the name, barely read the scrolling text, and marvel at that stupid frickin' gnome  there, bigger than life. Stupid, stupid, awful, supremely-poorly-testing, ugly, obnoxious gnome.

At the exact same time I am passed by one of the gorgeous Expedia.ca buses, in all it's completely perfect, screaming yellow, crisp, clear, made-in-Canada, right-in-context, plane-and-globe branding glory.

It was one of those moments when you just sorta "get" why, in Canada, Expedia won and Travelocity lost. And soooo badly, to boot. With due respect to Sam, Michelle, and the rest of the Sabre crew in Dallas, they just pooched it royally  up here. It was theirs to lose, and they did.

And yeah, I'm biased. Proud of it. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Technorati tags: travelocity, expedia, online travel, travel, gnome

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Somebody check the weather, because it could be that Hell has frozen over. Why? Well, I just made my first purchase on Priceline.com - and I am feeling pretty good about it. Now, as the guy who wrote the business plan for Expedia.ca and then was Chief Marketing Officer for Expedia.com, that's pretty scary stuff.

Here's the deal. We are heading to Halifax for Easter with the Grandparents, and as such need flights and a car. Well, for flights we had pretty specific requirements, so we went the traditional route (which in this case meant booking directly at AirCanada.com because it was $600 cheaper than on Expedia or anywhere else, but in fairness that's not always the case. Frequently, the online agencies have better deals, depending in when and where you travel - just not this time). We don't need a hotel, but do need a car. I went to Expedia.ca, Travelocity.ca, Hotwire.com (an "opaque" or you-don't-know-what-you've-bought-until-you-buy-it part of the Expedia family) and finally, to Priceline.com.

With due respect to my friends in the business, when you are picking a rental car up at an airport for a leisure trip, a rental is a rental. Though I do value the service bells and whistles when I am on business, when I travel on my own dime I will gladly trade a little convenience for savings. And for an airport pickup, you know who the choices might be, so what's the big fear?

So, in a nutshell? Priceline beat the pants off of everybody else. By a mile. And they have a neat little tool that guides your bid into likely-to-be-accepted territory. And I ended up getting the car from Hertz.

So, what will happen when I get there? Will it all be awful? Will I regret having done this? Will I hate William Shatner more than I do now?

We shall see. I will provide a full report when I get back.

Technorati tags: priceline, expedia, travelocity, online travel, william shatner