Google’s Flight Search Sparks Antitrust Fears

Google began positioning its new flight-finding feature at the top of general search results for airline booking information earlier this month. And its new competitors in the $110 billion online travel industry aren't happy about the search giant crashing the party, according to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report.

The charge: that Google is using its ubiquity in search to gain an unfair advantage on the rest of the industry. When users type in a travel query — "San Francisco to Los Angeles flights", say — the first search result is a listing of the cheapest flights for the given trip. Beneath the chart is a link to "more Google flight search results."

Results for other travel aggregators, such as Expedia and Kayak, now appear lower on the page — unless those companies pay to be part of the advertisements that precedes search results.

Kayak executive Robert Birge told the WSJ that Google has already shown "an explicit policy to intercept general search queries with their products," so "their argument that they're not engaging in anticompetitive practices doesn't hold up to basic logic."

It is the latest example of awkwardness — some would say impropriety — surrounding Google as the world's dominant search engine expands into a swathe of online businesses such as shopping, video distribution and local deals. Google chairman Eric Schmidt has defended the company against complaints of unjust practices in antitrust hearings before U.S. Senate and European Union officials in recent months.

Kayak, which provides links directly to official airline sites where customers then book their actual flights, is most directly affected, but it isn't alone. Google's service provides links directly to airline sites — while services like Expedia and Orbitz book flights through their own site, then charge the airline companies for the transaction.

Bookings made via online agencies such as Expedia cost airlines more than $11 each, the WSJ reports, compared to just $1 each when booked on airlines' own sites. Travel booking sites rely on Google for up to 20% of their traffic — so it's easy to see why they would be upset about being pushed down the list of search results.

Google, meanwhile, says it lists links to flights as advertisements. It hasn't revealed the worth of those ads.

The arrangement is an apparent windfall for airlines, since it directs travelers to their own sites and away from third-party bookers. Last year, sites that charge airlines for transactions handled almost a third of online flight bookings — worth more than $17 billion. Airlines for America, the U.S. trade association for airlines, declined Mashable's request for comment.

Expedia PR struck a positive tone with Mashable, writing in an email that the company "believes that continued innovation in travel is a positive for the industry, as long as it does not limit travelers' access to the full scope of options." The rep also listed several Expedia services that Google does not offer — at least, not yet.

Google said in an email to Mashable that its new tool is simply the latest in a series of services making life easier for consumers.

"When people come to Google looking for travel information, our goal is to show them the most relevant results as quickly as possible," Google spokesman Sean Carlson wrote. "The response to our new flights feature has been overwhelmingly positive, and we're continuing to focus on developing and delivering the best possible experience for our users."

Is Google abusing its search power, or is this simply a good situation for airlines and consumers? Is there any middle ground? Let us know in the comments.