Google Travel vs. Travel Agents

Should travel agents be worried about Google’s move into travel? (May 11, 2010)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/business/article7122574.ece

[INDENT]"The search giant has added hotel prices to its Maps service, targetting the 54% of British business travellers who use search engines for trip information"[/INDENT]

[Travelport’s European president Olaf Gueldner] sees Google’s entry into the travel arena as affecting these online travel agencies, which includes players like Expedia, Travelocity and Kayak, more than most. “If I were Kayak, I would be worried,” says Gueldner.

Gueldner is less certain of how far Google will go into travel. He says: “Google have been very shy to mix transactions and search in travel although hey have previously put product price comparisons in the second or third place of natural search results. From Google’s point of view, Google will be asking themselves whether they make more money from search or whether they will cannibalise their revenues if they start offering paid hotel search.”

More here (previously mentioned in another post):
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/03/experiment-to-show-hotel-prices-on.html