Google Buys ITA Software to Position Itself in Travel
Posted on 02. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey in News
ITA Software really is a good product. I had said in the past that Google would be keen to buy it, and they finally did for $700 million. The reason that ITA fits with Google is because of its innovative search engine for finding flights at the cheapest prices. Although the cheapest flights sometimes have wacky routes, it offers a deep look (click “login as a guest”) into how the complex airline industry works.
That’s why Google bought it – another great algorithm, and something to go up against Bing’s travel engine, which has slowly gained popularity for its valuable features as well as its uniqueness. Also, having ITA in the fold better strengthens Google Travel, because up until this point, there really has been no real travel service from Mountain View.
One interesting thing is ITA’s enterprise cachet – while regular users can access ITA for free, large airlines pay them for their advance algorithms. Not only could Chrome OS work well with a possible ITA Software flight search app offered for free there could also be a potential benefit for companies with an enterprise version of the OS using a more complex one that helps business travelers get where they are going – fast.
