Yesterday, I posted about a zdNet blog entry where the author feels Google is beginning to make a play at the travel search engine vertical. His reasoning, really quickly;
- A job posting for a "Google: Senior Account Executive, Travel Vertical."
- The keyword "Vertical" used in the job title
- Orbitz being open to buy and located in Chicago, the location of the job opening.
It would not surprise me if Google did go after this market. As I explained Google has added OneBox results with links to Expedia (the default), Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline and Travelocity. Try a search at Google with the syntax AIRPORT CODE to AIRPORT CODE like JFK to YYZ and you will see the OneBox results.
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We have the forums discussing this as well, how Google will monetize it (AdWords) and how they may implement it.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.