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The floodgates have opened – last week’s frenzy of activity, when Expedia and then TripAdvisor submitted complaints to the European Commission about Google, has clearly triggered something. To paraphrase, as both pretty much argue the same thing, the complaints centre on accusations of unfair practices in search which, the pair argue, is damaging the industry and consumers. No major surprises there, given that Expedia and TripAdvisor were original members of the FairSearch anti-Google lobbying group in the US. What raised just a few eyebrows was when, a few hours after TripAdvisor’s statement was released, ETTSA (European Technology and Travel Services Association) came out in support of the pair. ETTSA primarily represents the interests of the GDSs, as well as online travel agencies such as Expedia, Ebookers and Travelocity, in Brussels, but the decision to publicly back individual companies effectively puts the GDSs, under the umbrella of their representative body, also up against Google. Fast forward a few days and now Amadeus has decided to publicly back Expedia’s complaint to the EC.

Amadeus, alongside ETTSA, is particularly concerned about the likely impact of Google Flight Search, when it eventually expands outside of the current customer base of the US.

But for Amadeus, which just a few weeks ago saw its UK MD Diana Bouzebiba suggest again that Google needs partners in Europe, to now also come out in support of the anti-Googlers will speak volumes to those that have watched closely ever since June 2010, when Google first announced its acquisition of ITA Software. Clearly Amadeus is not expecting to be forming a major partnership with Google any time soon. Unless it is some kind of weird reverse psychology, of course.

Google has finished putting all the major pieces of its one-stop travel shopping together. The company calls the offering Google Travel, and it has the system in place for consumers to try out

Google Travel is, of course, very much a work in progress. But that’s the Google way — test, learn, iterate, solve big consumer problems, expand it around the world, and then monetize the heck out of it,” Schaal said

Progress depends on radical innovation

the company still released information detailing the progress of its environmentally-friendly initiatives.

an application plug-in that would help automobiles determine where you are going,

However, it is clear that Google will include your Google+ business page/s in the search engine results, which means a big SEO factor to consider. Kingpin's excellent blog post explains it best: "Due to the nature of their primary business, Google is able to use its leverage to make businesses that create and maintain a Page on its own social network easier to search on Google than pages or accounts on their competitors’ sites."

U.S. authorities are leading the charge as governments around the world pepper Google with more demands to remove online content and turn over information about people using its Internet search engine, YouTube video site and other services.

Many of the requests are legitimate attempts to enforce laws governing hot-button issues ranging from personal privacy to hate speech.

It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect — Western democracies not typically associated with censorship," Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post.

Utilizing its renowned satellite services, Google is now providing information to indigenous tribes on deforestation, giving them the ability to track and prevent the atrocity from taking place. Wildlife activist groups can use Google Earth to map areas at risk of being destroyed by logging companies and palm oil producers. With severe drought plaguing the countryside, French authorities have used Google’s mapping services to determine agricultural regions that should face water restrictions. After purchasing a wind farm in Iowa only a few years ago, Google announced its agreement to buy electricity from a wind generation facility in Oklahoma, boosting the use of renewable power on the electric grid that will power one of its new data centers. Under a twenty year agreement with the local service provider, Google’s long-term goal of running entirely on renewable energy is growing closer and closer. Advocating carbon neutrality in every aspect of its internal affairs, Google is constantly searching for ways to ensure that it never consumes excessive gas. Google has shuttles that run on biodiesel and encourages its employees to ride into work on bikes, skateboards, and scooters. Since 2007, Google has attempted to keep its operations carbon neutral. They’ve done it by reducing energy use, incorporating renewable energy, and offsetting carbon emissions. By adopting unconventional techniques for effectively lowering its environmental impact, the company has become a model for implementing green technology in a fiscally-efficient manner.

Travel industry leader chooses Google Cloud as its preferred cloud provider to accelerate its digital transformation

Sunnyvale, CA, January 21, 2020 — Google Cloud today announced it has joined forces with Sabre Corporation [NASDAQ: SABR]— a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry—to help digitally transform the traveler’s experience and co-create the future of travel. 

The 10-year-strategic partnership between Google and Sabre will enable the travel provider to improve operational agility while developing new services and creating a new marketplace for its airline,  hospitality and travel agency customers. 

During I/O, the annual developer conference, Google made several announcements that are set to have an impact on how we use technology at events.

Google Glass is the gadget of the moment

Event staff could immediately scan event tickets by wearing Glass or attendees could scan an intelligent code to get clearance. The technology is so event friendly that I anticipate lots of cool apps in this space.

tech giant has been unveiling a handful of travel-related features for its Google Home and related products, including instant translations and flight ch

eck-in and booking tools.

Google Assistant will soon be able to check U.S.-based travelers for their flights.

has a history of taking a service people used to pay good money for, and simply offering it up for free.

online travel agency (OTA) business. Investors in traditional OTAs should be worried.

Cutting out the middleman

Finnair wanted to move “…to our desired state of pricing and distribution freedom in direct channels and content differentiation in indirect channels.” Effectively, the airline saw more value in flyers purchasing fares directly from them, or through indirect channels including online travel agencies and Google Flights.

While Sabre handles a number of tickets every year, it also comes with hidden costs that are ultimately passed down to flyers. In 2011, American Airlines accused its former child company of exorbitantly raising fees for using the global distribution system to publish fares.

While Sabre was doing battle with airlines over fees, a smaller player in the travel space with a big name would begin building their pathway to dominance. In 2010, Google quietly purchased a flight information software company called ITA Travel.

First there was Google search then Google maps, Google flights now Google's hotel search product is aiming to take on other hotel booking sites and disrupt the online travel agency model.  With flights and core search Google is already a travel industry leader.

As Google takes on the OTAs head-to-head, hotels benefit from a significant new distribution channel which (alongside Airbnb) is a major shift in industry dynamics.

Rather than hotels distributing to OTAs, who charge commissions for capturing demand from Google (almost like advertising arbitrage), hotels can advertise directly on Google. This shortens the value chain and somewhat balances the  distribution power dynamic in hotels’ favor.

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he leading global provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers, clearly demonstrates how crucial Global Distribution System (GDS) platforms and GDS Shopping Displays are to travel agents:

84 percent of respondents indicated that they were using their GDS platform the same amount or more often than in the past, with 35 percent stating that they are using GDS more.

Google Cloud and Sabre have formed a 10-year partnership that will see the creation of a new marketplace for airline, hospitality and agency customers.

Google Cloud becoming its preferred cloud provider as well as a “broader strategic partner.”

strategy to “imagine, develop and deploy future capabilities that will advance the travel ecosystem.

The same map travelers use to show where they've been around the world pinpoints every DoubleTree location. There are YouTube video tours of several properties and an engine to book rooms. The website also features tips, videos and suggestions for local hotspots from DoubleTree employees who serve as "DTour Guides."

Want to boast about your last vacation on YouTube? DoubleTree by Hilton has teamed up with Google to create a YouTube channel that lets travelers plan and share details about their trips

The same map travelers use to show where they've been around the world pinpoints every DoubleTree location. There are YouTube video tours of several properties and an engine to book rooms. The website also features tips, videos and suggestions for local hotspots from DoubleTree employees who serve as "DTour Guides."

Shift4 Corporation now supports Google Wallet on four newly integrated Ingenico PIN pads.The Shift4 interfaces for these four new devices – the Ingenico iSC250, iSC350, iPP320, and iPP350 – also support swipe-ahead functionality, meaning customers can swipe their cards (or touch their phones) and then enter their PIN (or signature) before the merchant finishes ringing up the order. Once the order is completed, customers simply approve the amount, get their receipt, and are on their way. In busy retail environments, the short time saved by this option quickly adds up.

The new NFC functionality integrates seamlessly with Shift4's existing DOLLARS ON THE NET® features including TrueTokenization® and 4Go®. It is now available to Shift4 merchants running the most recent version of Shift4's Universal Transaction Gateway®. Currently, the aforementioned devices are supported with no modification required to the Point-of-Sale (POS) system.

Microsoft has announced a deal with the community review site Yelp to add its reviews of restaurants, stores and other businesses to Bing search results.

Microsoft has partnered with Yelp to integrate its reviews into Bing search results.

Bing and other search engines have struggled to grow in comparison to the dominant Google

Over the past few months, Google has started to work with a handful of software providers in order to provide a more seamless search and reservation experience for customers wishing to book a vacation rental for their next trip.

The vacation rental market has been eagerly waiting for Google’s foray into the industry, which has traditionally been dominated by the Big 5: Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, HomeAway and TripAdvisor.

Now Google has successfully integrated vacation rentals into the Hotel Search function,