Expedia Shoots Down Google

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz | More Articles
December 9, 2010 | Comments (2)

Watch stocks you care about

The single, easiest way to keep track of all the stocks that matter...

Your own personalized stock watchlist!

It's a 100% FREE Motley Fool service...

Click Here Now

Like a playboy losing his touch, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG ) is getting rejected a lot lately.

"We should see other people," said Groupon.
"It's not you. It's -- well -- you," said smartphone owners who turned their backs on Google's Nexus One.
Television networks have slapped Google TV -- in the face!

Google's latest Dear Sergey letter comes from TripAdvisor. According to a Dec. 8 story by Tnooz.com's Kevin May, the popular travel reviews website is quietly blocking its user ratings from populating Google Places, a popular component of Google's mapping site.

If you're looking for an explanation for TripAdvisor shunning the potential of reaching out to Google's many visitors, it helps to examine its family tree. TripAdvisor's parent is Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE ) , one of the many online travel portals concerned with Google's pending purchase of Web-based booking specialist ITA Software.

If Google is successful in acquiring ITA, many portals will begin sizing up the world's leading search engine as a competitor. Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW ) , Kayak, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT ) Bing, and TripAdvisor rely on ITA for travel information. Other companies -- including priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN ) and travel deals publisher Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO ) -- would feel the sting if Google begins playing a bigger part in reaching out to Web-savvy travel seekers.

In other words, TripAdvisor is no longer interested in sleeping with the enemy.

Google Places doesn't need TripAdvisor, but it obviously helps it beef up its listings until Google cooks up a home-grown solution or acquires Yelp. The bigger concern here is that this is the beginning of the backlash against Google by the travel portals that have historically relied on Google for traffic and leads.

This is a small gesture, but it speaks volumes.

What's your favorite online travel play? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

Google and Microsoft are Motley Fool Inside Value picks. Google is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation. priceline.com is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor choice. Motley Fool Options has recommended a diagonal call position on Microsoft. The Fool owns shares of Google and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has been leaning on travel websites since the 1990s. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read/Post Comments (2) | Recommend This Article (2)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On December 10, 2010, at 5:50 AM, TAWatch wrote:

I agree, the move is because of fear of that Google will usurp TripAdvisor and other booking sites.
Google Places aggregates reviews from many sources, so why will anyone bother to go to TripAdvisor to read reviews and make a booking if the info is already there on Google Places and the ITA booking linkup comes to fruition.
The flipside is that if TA does not feature in Google Places, which are all the more more prominent in SERPs since the recent revision and promotion of Maps in Google searches, then TA is going to lose a heck of a lot of click-through traffic. This spat is benefiting neither TA nor Google - will someone blink first, or will it be settled mutually? Pass the popcorn, please!
Phil
Report this Comment On December 10, 2010, at 6:57 AM, Skoosh222 wrote:

Expedia will lose this battle of course because Google will eventually get the content elsewhere but it will be more than interesting to watch.

Add your comment.

Compare Brokers

Fool Disclosure

DocumentId: 1395103, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 5/26/2012 3:29:26 AM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report...

Today's Market

updated 6 hours ago Sponsored by:
	DOW	12,454.83	-74.92	-0.60%
	S&P 500	1,317.82	-2.86	-0.22%
	NASD	2,837.53	-1.85	-0.07%

Create My Watchlist

Go to My Watchlist

You don't seem to be following any stocks yet!

Better investing starts with a watchlist. Now you can create a personalized watchlist and get immediate access to the personalized information you need to make successful investing decisions.

Data delayed up to 5 minutes