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Time for travel meta search engines to prove their worth

September 19, 2011 | Online Travel

OTAs and travel meta search engines can demonstrate their current market-share supremacy vs. Google, but as important they’ll need to leverage their customer loyalty and brand equity. The stronger the bond with their customers, that harder it will be for Google to conquest.

Consumers expect flight information to be readily available at their fingertips, enabling them to actively weigh value and convenience.

As pointed by Compete in April this year, consumers have demonstrated a willingness to expend both more time and more effort into the shopping process before pressing the “book now” button. In one of its analysis, Compete also pointed out that as consumers aggressively seek accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive flight information, meta-search and lead generator sites are seeing dramatic year-over-year jumps in traffic.

At the same time the meta-search category on the whole has been anxiously waiting for Google’s foray into this domain over the past few months. The same happened this week as Google unveiled its new Flights Search offering, a product that combines ITA’s expertise with Google’s technology. Meta-search sites are wary of how Google can shake the category. It is being acknowledged that if Google is successful in its new offering, then meta-search companies could lose traffic to their websites and mobile applications, which could have a material adverse effect on their business.

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