HOTELMARKETING.COM

Google Hotel Finder evolving slower than anticipated

November 20, 2012 | HOTEL MARKETING

Looks like Google is finding the travel distribution space more complicated than the company initially thought. Yet the company shed a little light on its travel plans at last week’s PhoCusWright Conference, showing the company’s continued commitment to the space.

While executives shed little light on their future plans at last week’s PhoCusWright Conference, the decision to highlight a few new travel-oriented Google products did show the company’s continued commitment to the space. It’s clear, however, that Google Flight Search and Google Hotel Finder are evolving slower than anticipated.

“We were happy to get the Fight Search out quickly. We had been sitting across the table during the regulatory review waiting to get to work,” said Jeremy Wertheimer, VP of Google Travel, who founded ITA Software and joined Google in 2010 when the company purchased the software. “We were pretty happy we got it out, and now we’re looking at international expansion.”

“Things are moving pretty well,” said Wertheimer, adding that the company tends to push new products out quickly and strategically test and iterate them over time.

However, a number of leading executives in the online travel space suggested during PhoCusWright that Google is finding the travel distribution space more complicated than the company initially thought.

Get the full story at HotelNewsNow.com

Visit our sponsors: