Feature 1: Search is going social. Google has added a recommendation feature for its search results called +1. Registered users with a profile will see the +1 button alongside search results.

Google doesn’t show all the +1′s to all users. Instead, it is showing only recommendations based on signals like connections on Google (chat buddies and contacts). It’s also working on implementing recommendations from a user’s connections on other sites, like Twitter.

Google Plus One

Rob Spiro, product manager for Google, explains in a blog post, “Say, for example, you’re planning a winter trip to Tahoe, Calif. When you do a search, you may now see a +1 from your slalom-skiing aunt next to the result for a lodge in the area.”

+1’s: the right recommendations right when you want them—in your search results – Google Blog
Bing News adds real-time Twitter updates – Bing Blog

Feature 2: Limos.com has secured $10 million in funding from Austin Ventures. The new investment adds to the company’s original funding of $5 million from Canal Partners.

Limos also announced the launch of its new corporate travel management product, Limos.com for Business, which offers direct access to local car service operators. Limos.com president & CEO T.J. Clark says that companies overpay by at least 40 percent on car services when they don’t book with local suppliers.

They’re also about to launch mobile apps for iPhone and Android, which will allow travelers to search and book car services “on the go” in all of its markets worldwide.

Limos.com secures $10 million in financing from Austin Ventures – AustinVentures.com

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:-

Why the mobile buzz is fizzing and how not to fall victim - FlightCaster
Travel editors discuss consumers and changing travel patterns - Travel Weekly

Yuupon launches with date flexibility and refunds on flash deals – Yuupon.com
Overstock’s travel site takes flight with heavily discounted hotels - AllThingsD
Boston-based startup aims to be travel industry’s Groupon – InsiderTrips.com

Expedia launches new rewards program – UpTake
Expedia Chairman: Hopes to resolve dispute with American Airlines soon - WSJ
Florida company makes $3.25 billion offer for AMR? - Dallas News

71 percent feel travel is better today than it was 10 years ago - Orbitz.com
Enterprise pulls cars from Orbitz after dispute - Elliott.org

Can a smartphone app juice the market for electric cars? NetworkWorld.com
Chicken fat studied by NASA as eco-friendly jet fuel - NASA.gov

Study says airport scanners release little radiation - Washington Post
Siemens introduces secure apron baggage screening (SABS) solution at LAX – Siemens.com

Spirit Airlines adds new late fees for luggage - CNN
Global airline luggage delays climb in 2010 - AP
Ryanair to offer child-free flights. Real or April Fools marketing? - Reuters

Centrav launches consolidator mobile fares site for travel agents – TravelAgentCentral
Yapta opens up airfare tracking technology to developers - Yapta.com

Photo – Google Blog

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Tired of the same old ho hum places promoted time after time? Wanderfly.com has unearthed 25 destinations so far off the grid that you’ll hardly believe these places could even exist. But don’t delay—these newly discovered gems are being promoted on the travel recommendation site only for today.

Click on the “New Discoveries!” trip-theme button on the Wanderfly.com homepage, and soon you’ll be viewing such incredibly inspiring destinations as:

Kitty City, China—a town in Western Sichuan full of cute little kittens. Everywhere you look: kittens.

ObeCity, U.S.A.—a huge swath of land that is home to huge amounts of huge people eating huge meals at huge buffets.

Marés Gorduroso, Brazil—where travelers can contribute to the destruction of its rainforests at this new unsustainable tourism resort.

Islands in the Stream, Dubai—a man-made archipelago in the shape of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

Charlie Sheen’s Brain, California—where visitors can experience the wild unpredictability of living in luxury one moment, then being thrown into an uncontrollable rage the next.

ADX Florence Correctional Facility, Colorado—an all-inclusive resort where visitors can get away from all human contact and the worries (and addictions) of the outside world.

As with all its destinations, Wanderfly.com also includes recommended attractions, such as for Kitty City: Chairman Meow Mausoleum, Pussy Park and Enemy of the State Museum: Bob Barker.

Wanderfly.com had help from Whim Quarterly (writers from The Daily Show, David Letterman’s The Late Show and The Onion) coming up with this April Fool’s Day prank.

Of course, it’s not the only travel company with an April 1 joke this year: JetBlue announced its taking away its free snacks, DirectTV, no-fee for first checked bag of checked luggage and nonstop flights; Virgin Atlantic is touting the news that Richard Branson has purchased the former planet of Pluto and is reinstating it as an official planet; and, most impressive of all—Southwest Airlines has unlocked the secrets to time travel!

RyanAir, ever the prankster, announced it was launching child-free flights come October. While this has been confirmed as another one of the company’s April Fool’s jokes, there are enough fliers potentially interested in such an offer that the possibility that it wasn’t a joke was much debated the past two days.

Hey, it’s Friday. There are worse ways to start to the weekend. What have been your favorite travel industry pranks?

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Repeat business is the lifeblood of any company, which is one reason businesses offer rewards programs for loyal customers.

Hotel chains with properties all over the world have an advantage in the rewards arena because they can provide benefits to customers loyal to a brand, even if a specific property isn’t visited more than once. These rewards may entice a traveler to book with a national chain with hundreds of properties instead of a resort with only a handful of properties in a few locations. A few companies in the travel and hospitality industry have formed creative partnerships that may help level the rewards program playing field.

Most recently, MGM Resorts has partnered with Los Angeles-based sbe to form a joint rewards platform. MGM Resorts operates several hotel casinos in Las Vegas, two properties in Mississippi and another hotel casino in Detroit. The sbe profile includes hotels, restaurants and nightlife venues primarily in the Los Angeles area. Members of MGM’s M life Players Club and sbe’s loyalty program will now have access to benefits and privileges at resorts, hotels, casinos, restaurants, spas and nightlife brands operated by either company.

While other joint ventures announced recently have helped hospitality brands expand their geographic reach, this specific partnership looks to take advantage of the proximity of Las Vegas to Los Angeles, targeting customers who stay and play in both markets frequently.

For more information, visit the M Life Players Club website at https://www.mlife.com.

Photo Credit

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