Monday, April 23, 2007

Google and online travel agencies

Excellent guest post on the Boot blog asks an interesting question about Google's move into pay-per-action advertising and its impact on online travel agencies.

Michael Potts, founder and director of E-Interactive, reckons OTAs will come under pressure simply because hotels, airlines et al will have a cheaper route to market. He says:

"A move into the affiliate marketing space does pose a greater threat to OTA's as Google provides an even better distribution opportunity for travel suppliers desperate to avoid the high levels of commission payment to online distributors like Expedia (Expedia "normally" charges hoteliers 25% commission on the sale price for the right to place product there.)

"And once travel suppliers are all hooked on Google it really is time that the OTA's sat up and took some serious notice."

It's an interesting theory, perhaps made all lthe more intriguing with Google's recent purchase of DoubleClick.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

2 comments:

Richard Hartigan said...

It is inevitable that suppliers will disintermediate and find the cheapest route to market.

Google and other search engines (there are some more!) have such a stranglehold over online activity that they will very soon become the new intermediary.

harveydean said...

Question for the conference...

Can a tour operator be the authority in social media?