Google Will Buy Maker of Flight-Information Software

Google on Thursday announced a definitive agreement to acquire a software company whose platform organizes flight information for the on-line travel industry. The search giant will pick up ITA Software for $700 million in an all-cash deal.

ITA was founded in 1996 by a team of MIT computer scientists. The company has developed algorithms that underpin a customizable flight-data organization tool that airlines and on-line travel agencies, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Hotwire and Orbitz, use to power their reservations.

Google smells revenue. The on-line travel industry generated $124.4 billion in 2009, according to eMarketer, and that figure is set to grow even after doubling in the last four years.

“ITA’s very talented team has created an impressive product to organize flight information,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said. “Their technology opens exciting possibilities for us to create new ways for users to more easily find flight information online, and we are looking forward to welcoming them to Google.”

Room for Google Innovation

Google’s research shows that almost half of all airline tickets are sold on-line today. But Google’s research also found that many people are frustrated trying to find the ideal deal on flights because pricing and availability constantly change. Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google, thinks there is room for more competition and greater innovation in the on-line travel sector.

“Google has already come up with new ways to organize hard-to-find information like images, newspaper archives, scholarly papers, books and geographic data,” Mayer said. “Once we have finished our acquisition of ITA, we will work on creating new flight search tools that will make it easier for you to search for flights, compare flight options and prices, and get you quickly to a site where you can purchase your ticket.”

Google stated the ITA acquisition will benefit passengers, airlines and online…

source : www.newsfactor.com

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Submited at Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm on tech by samantha
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