Google and Ryanair Working Airline Ticket Selling System To "Blow Comparison Sites Out of the Water" - Search Engine Govt, Policy, and Business Issues forum at WebmasterWorld - WebmasterWorld

Forum Moderators: goodroi

Message Too Old, No Replies

Google and Ryanair Working Airline Ticket Selling System To "Blow Comparison Sites Out of the Water"

engine

6:33 pm on Jan 13, 2014 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator

10+ Year Member

Top Contributors Of The Month

I wonder how much of this is hype. Either way, the part about blowing comparison sites out of the water is concerning, if you're an independent comparison service.

...Google is working on top-secret plans with Michael O'Leary's Ryanair in a bid to completely transform how consumers search for, select and buy airline tickets.Google and Ryanair Working Airline Ticket Selling System To "Blow Comparison Sites Out of the Water" [independent.ie]

"There are some very exciting developments with Google, where we have been working with them on sharing the pricing," O'Leary said.

"We'll be sharing the Ryanair pricing through all of the Google outlets, so when you go in, there'll be route selections, cheapest prices and so on. Google are developing a price-comparison thing themselves.

"They want to launch with us and we're working with them on that kind of product.

"It'll blow comparison sites like Skyscanner out of the water."

O'Leary said he expected the project to go live by the end of March.

superclown2

12:58 pm on Jan 14, 2014 (gmt 0)

Another one for the monopolies people to take a good look at.

A partnership between them makes sense. They both have the same attitude towards their customers.

RedBar

7:09 pm on Jan 14, 2014 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member

10+ Year Member

Top Contributors Of The Month

They both have the same attitude towards their customers.

Yep, neither of them would recognise service quality if it were the only thing in front of them!

austtr

7:12 am on Jan 15, 2014 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member

10+ Year Member

Further confirmation, if any was needed, that Google intends to swallow every part the travel and tourism sector.

I wonder how their current clutch of authority partners will feel when G places its own affiliate flights system above them in the SERP's. Google Hotels was the forerunner of what was to follow.

turbocharged

1:04 pm on Jan 15, 2014 (gmt 0)

Imagine a cable company or satellite TV network giving its subscribers access to only the channels they own. With little competition, they are pretty much free to do as they please. Just look at what is going on with The Weather Channel and DirecTV.

Imagine a telephone company listing the companies they own or have financial interests in the top spots in their Yellow Pages book and everyone else below. Would this not be deemed anti-competitive and unlawful?

Google's expansion into other markets will definitely suppress innovation in the long-term as those within the industries Google is entering do not have the benefit of owning the top digital marketing channel to support their businesses.

No inquiries, investigations and/or other actions by government officials leads me to believe that Google itself is benefiting from preferential treatment and immunity from fair competition laws. This consolidation of technology under one huge multinational corporation goes well beyond "troubling" in my view. If nothing else, it speaks of potential collusion between government and corporate interests over fair competition which ultimately gives consumers of goods the benefits of choice.