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Google leapfrogs into online travel sector
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California: Google, the search giant, is set to acquire software firm ITA, in a move that catapults the company into the heart of the $80 billion (€63.5bn; £52.7bn) online travel business.
The takeover is worth some $700m, and constitutes the third largest purchase made by Google in its 12 years of existence.
It will enable the internet pioneer to build tools that provide comparative information on flight times, ticket availability and prices, services which are widely used by travel agents at present.
Many airlines also utilise the technology created by ITA – which was founded by scientists at MIT in 1996 – to maximise the yield from sales of their seats.
Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, refused to rule out the possibility that the organisation would choose to sell tickets, but suggested it was among the "less likely" options under consideration.
"I think it's unlikely that anything we do will look very much like what's available today," he added.
Read more @ warc.com
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