Scoble lays into travel sites - advises Google to go vertical

Just came across this post from the blogmeister Robert Scoble. Sorry for the delay.

It was written on the 2 May, before Microsoft backed away from its attempt to buy Yahoo!, and goes into some detail about how bored he is about a potential deal and why Microsoft is full of - for want of a better word - luddites, etc, etc.

Google gets a bit of a poke in the ribs, too.

He uses travel as a prime example, pointing to the Google Travel page. A poor directory page effort circa in terms of style to 1999.

He asks:

Does that page help? Not really. No video. No cool people telling you about interesting places. No personality. No branding. No interesting Web services.

The big brand travel sites aren't any better, he continues.

There's then follows a bit of hand wringing about what Microsoft may or may not do with its purchase of Farecast.

But there are two key and rather tantalising paragraphs:

I find that Google listens a lot more than Yahoo or Microsoft does. Google has left billions of dollars on the table that it will go after over the next year, if they are as smart as I think they are.

Google: take the money off the table — build great niche search sites around topics like travel, wine, parenting, housing, automobiles, etc. You have a year to do it before Microsoft can even START to figure out where you’re weak.

It's a fascinating article and raises some of the fundamental questions about where Google, search, vertical search and travel search in particular may head next. Read it.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

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