The Google acquisition of ITA Software is now history. The two are now busy working on various levels of integration to make searching for travel content more intuitive and broader for consumers, advertisers and suppliers. The acquisition caused major rumblings across the industry, causing many distributors and aggregators of travel content to join forces and to oppose the move. Those concerned and/or opposed to Google contended that this represented too great a consolidation of power and control into the hands of one company. The authorities in the United States did not perceive such a threat so the acquisition went ahead with a few changes demanded by the U.S. Department of Justice and anti-trust regulators. Time will tell if Google’s competitors had, and have, the right to be concerned.
So, while the battle, and even the war, has been lost, Google’s new competitors have formed an organization known as FairSearch to keep the issue in the public eye.
Here’s what FairSearch has to say about its mission:
FairSearch.org is a group of businesses and organizations united to promote a healthy Internet future, where economic growth is driven by competition, transparency and innovation in search verticals and online services. We believe in enforcement of existing laws to prevent dominant companies from engaging in anticompetitive behavior and to protect investment and choice across the Internet ecosystem.
. . . Based on growing concern that Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition, we believe policymakers must act now to protect competition, transparency and innovation in online search.
Members of FairSearch include Kayak, Microsoft, Travelocity, Sabre, TripAdvisor, Expedia, SideStep, Farelogix, Hotwire and Zuji.