Travel search-engine buzz :: important or just a fad?

:: Travel Weekly - The National Newspaper of the Travel Industry ::

Is the travel "search-engine buzz important or just a fad."

There was much talk about whether the search engines can be comprehensive if online agencies like Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz shun the meta-searchers. For example, Orbitz works with SideStep and Kayak but has boycotted others; Travelocity dropped out of FareChase and Kayak but uses Mobissimo; and Expedia says it will not play ball with any "screen-scraper" for now....

Interestingly "Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Daniel Rosensweig told the more than 800 attendees that Yahoo’s upcoming introduction of the FareChase travel search engine and similar products by competitors will not displace online agencies -- such as Yahoo’s partner, Travelocity -- because consumers shop for travel in multiple ways and travel will continue to be sold in numerous ways."

Also much discussion as to how comprehensive the travel search engines can be i"f online agencies like Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz shun the meta-searchers."

At present:

Orbitz works with SideStep and Kayak but has boycotted others

Travelocity dropped out of FareChase and Kayak but uses Mobissimo

Expedia says it will not play ball with any "screen-scraper" for now.


Opinions:

"Outgoing Orbitz CEO Jeffrey Katz told attendees that "the scraper model is dumb. I love the chutzpa, but I don’t think this dog hunts."He said the challenge for online agencies is to find value for customers and suppliers, but he noted there is "shockingly little" consumer loyalty on the Web

Priceline CEO Jeffery Boyd told attendees that Yahoo’s purchase of FareChase and AOL’s minority investment in Kayak were among the key events in online travel this year. Kayak CEO Stephen Hafner asked Boyd why Priceline, which has a retail operation along with its opaque business, and other online sellers should be afraid of the pricing transparency that the travel search engines bring.

Boyd responded that he would not rule out partnering with a travel-search engine but would rather invest in developing consumer loyalty. Boyd said his concerns about the meta-searchers include brand dilution and the cost of participation, including robotic searches that raise Web sites’ GDS costs."

Other search-related news from the conference includes:

• Kayak said it will give travel agencies free listings in search results so consumers can contact them for bookings. Kayak also said it is working on a corporate-travel application for company intranets. In addition, OneTravel.com recently began participating in Kayak.

• SideStep will introduce a Web-based application, eliminating the need for consumers to download its comparative shopping engine.

• Mobissimo will soon unveil several international sites.