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.
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.