Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Expedia's TripAdvisor Gets New Competitor: Google

TripAdvisor, the online travel ratings, review, and guide site owned by Bellevue-based Expedia, has some big, new competition, as of Monday, after Google said it bought travel guide publisher Frommer's. Google acquired the travel books and guides publisher from publishing house John Wiley & Sons, which has been looking to unload the travel publisher since earlier this year. The deal sparked speculation among analysts that Google is increasingly threatening online travel sites like Expedia and Orbitz, as the search engine seeks to use its online muscle in search to displace them in the market. The move is not the first in the travel area for Google, which recently acquired restaurant reviews site Zagat, and spent $700M to buy ITA Software, a provider of airline search technology.