Feature: Google was in the dock for the Senate Judiciary subcommittee’s antitrust hearing on Wednesday, with testimony by Eric Schmidt.

Opposing testimony was provided by Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman and lawyer Tom Barnett for Expedia and the FairSearch coalition, among others.

Apart from the hearing itself, there was plenty spin before and after. Both Google and Fairsearch put out guides beforehand, and afterward put out responses to statements made during the hearing.

Tom Barnett, Expedia and FairSearch: “Just last week, Google launched its own online travel search service. Notwithstanding the judicial decree and Google’s promise, the service excludes any link to online travel agencies, which are key options for comparison shopping… Further, the Google service utilizes a new version of ITA software that, now that Google owns ITA, is available only to Google, also continuing to undermine choices for consumers.”

Google’s response to Barnett: We committed to continuing to license ITA’s QPX software to airfare websites on commercially reasonable terms, and maintain that commitment. Furthermore, Kayak said just last week, “We’re confident in our ability to compete, and we believe our flight search technology is superior. We recognize Google is a formidable competitor but they haven’t been successful in every vertical they’ve entered.”

As stated by Eric Schmidt, Google “Get’s it.” But that doesn’t mean they’re hearing what Fairsearch members are saying.

Responses to Senate Hearing witness claims – Google Competition blog
FairSearch statement on Google Hearing – FairSearch.org
Seeking a level playing field – Yelp Official Blog
Kayak updates IPO filing to acknowledge Google’s entry into travel – AllThingsD

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

Grubhub gets $50 million, acquires Dotmenu – Grubhub.com
Trustyou raises $5 million, acquires Review Analyst – Trustyou.com (pr)
Zimride gets $6 million to fill seats – NYT

Texas Judge sets trial date for AA-Sabre litigation – MarketWatch
Court rules American Airlines must allow Orbitz to sell its tickets – Bloomberg

Virgin Galactic spaceships to be built at $8 million Mojave plant – SpaceRef
Space taxis move one step closer to reality – LA Times

TripAdvisor hits 50 million unique monthly visitors – TripAdvisor.com
Fodor’s and TripAdvisor Announce Partnership – Fodor’s (pr)
Android travel publication launches – Wandrous

Study finds affluent households drive the travel trade – Travel Weekly
Fly a private jet, at public prices – NYT

U.S. lodging industry fees climb to record $1.8 billion – NYU
Survey: Airline fees reach $400 mark – USA Today

Photo credit – geetarchurchy

Related posts:
Google Flights Unwraps ITA Software
TravelTechnology Weekly – Search Wars on Travel Terrain

Feature: The 2011 InformationWeek 500 rankings of the most innovative business technology organizations are out, and Vail Resorts Inc. topped the Hospitality & Travel sector while ranking tenth in the overall top 500 list.

InformationWeek 500

InformationWeek says that Vail turned resort customers into brand activists by combining mobile and web apps with social media to let people share their mountain experience.

Just behind Vail was American Airlines at eleventh place, followed by Boeing Company at 17, IHG at 25, Sabre Holdings at 31, Marriott at 48, Kimpton Hotels at 96, Caesars Entertainment at 133 and Hyatt at 213.

American was the only commercial airline on the list and claims innovations such as a tool that gives ramp employees access to real-time information about baggage and cargo being unloaded or loaded onto planes.

American also cited a visual touch-screen application that puts critical information on arrivals, departures, connections and specifics on customers at the fingertips of tower control employees.

How Vail turns resort customers into brand activists – Informationweek
American Airlines ranks No. 11 on 2011 InformationWeek 500 – AA.com
2011 InformationWeek 500 rankings - InformationWeek

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

Disrupt: Gowalla reborn as travel app – TechCrunch
Disrupt: Trippy brings friends, social recommendations to travel planning - TechCrunch
Disrupt: Vocre lets you instantly converse in foreign languages – TechCrunch

Jetsetter disrupts $85 billion vacation rental industry - Jetsetter Homes (pr)
Historvius ties up with Expedia to map tours near hotels - Historvius
TripAdvisor removes its ‘reviews you trust’ slogan – Independent

Google – ITA’s Moment of Truth – PhoCusWright Connect
Google Flights to World Trade Center suggested - SMH AU

Baidu travel unit plans U.S. IPO in 2012 – Fox Business
Groupon back on track for its IPO - NYT
Groupon’s hidden influence on reputation - Technology Review

Sabre wins dismissal of antitrust claims in US Airways suit – Businessweek
Sabre to launch B2B app marketplace for travel industry - Sabre Holdings
Amadeus unveils new GDS platform – Travel Weekly

Get ready for hypersonic travel – WSJ
NASA announces deep space exploration system design - NASA.gov
Mapping out the future of transport – WSJ

Photo – InformationWeek

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Vail Resorts Adds Photo Features to Its EpicMix Application
TravelTechnology Weekly – Disney Dream Tech Revenue, National Geographic Adventures…

Feature 1: Google has acquired Zagat Survey, which now gives Google Maps a big leg up against user-generated restaurant-review sites like Yelp and OpenTable. Acquisition terms were not disclosed.

Zagat Google

Following are statements from both companies about the acquisition and what it means for them:

Marissa Mayer, vice president for local, maps and location services, Google: “Moving forward, Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering—delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights… With Zagat, we gain a world-class team that has more experience in consumer based-surveys, recommendations and reviews than anyone else in the industry.”

Nina and Tim Zagat: “After spending time with Google senior management discussing our mutual goals, we know they share our belief in user-generated content and our commitment to accuracy and fairness in providing users with the information needed to make smart decisions about where to eat, shop and travel.”

Google just got Zagat rated – Google Blog
Zagat got Googled - Zagat.com
Priceline CEO: Google web travel efforts under legal cloud – WSJ.com
Google Hotel Finder rocks the boat for Kayak – Forbes

Feature 2: Sunnyvale, California-based wireless location-based services provider Telenav has acquired Boston-based local-activity search startup Goby. The acquisition terms were not disclosed, and Goby’s existing core team will continue to operate out of Boston.

Goby was launched in October 2009 with $5 million in investment from Flybridge Capital Partners and Kepha Partners and raised another $2.5 million in 2010. Its mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android have more than half a million users.

TeleNav completes acquisition of Goby - Telenav.com

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

Hotels.com extreme airborne stunt shows how to book a room “on the fly” – Hotels.com
Hipmunk first OTA to integrate Amtrak searches – Gadling.com
TripIt survey shows Android users travel less frequently - TripIt

Sabre Profiles: New customer profile management system – Sabre Holdings
American accuses Sabre of staging bookings boycott – Bloomberg
Amadeus and SITA to bring real-time baggage tracking to passengers - Amadeus.com

Survey: Airport security, baggage fees and trusted traveler program – Travel Leaders
Airport Screening: Shoe removal policy could come to an end – TIME

California Court overturns San Diego hotel tax ruling against OTAs - ITSA (pr)
Vail could sue online travel companies - VailDaily

Photo – Zagat

Related posts:
Google Acquires Ruba Travel
ITA Flight Search on Google – Coming Soon…
Goby: beautiful product, but how do you get discovered?

Feature 1: The Boeing Company finally puts some skin into the single-aisle game with the launch of the 737 MAX to fight for orders head to head with the Airbus A320neo.

Boeing 737

The new 737 family will be powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines that claim to have the lowest operating costs in the single-aisle segment with a 7 percent advantage over the competition. The 737 MAX will have a fuel burn that is expected to be 16 percent lower than existing Airbus 320 planes and 4 percent lower than the new Airbus 320neo.

Boeing says it already has 496 orders for the new airplanes from five airlines.

Airbus has received more than 1,200 orders for the A320neo since its December 2010 launch, and it will be making the first deliveries in 2015. Boeing will start delivering the 737 MAX beginning in 2017.

Boeing launches 737 New Engine family – Boeing.com
Boeing bets on 737 MAX to win $1 trillion in jet orders – Blooomberg
Analysts recommend Boeing on engine announcement – Businessweek

Feature 2: What’s the best way to board a plane? Astrophysicist Jason H. Steffen has devised and tested a new algorithmic boarding method which is supposedly faster than the systems used by airlines today.

The testing was done (see video) in Studio City, California, on a mock single-aisle plane with 12 rows and six seats per row. The system is based on staggered seating, and alternating between both sides of the plane. The 72 test passengers were seated in three minutes and forty seconds flat.

In comparison, the next fastest boarding method used by United requires 4:21 minutes, while random boarding clocks in at 4:48.

Physicist claims to have found quickest way to board fliers – WSJ

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

How F1 is changing the future of air travel - Turnto23.com
I’ve seen the future of travel media - Wilhelmus.ca

E La Carte raises $4 million to bring tablets to restaurant tables – TechCrunch
TomTom introduces navigation device with travel apps – TomTom.com

Concur and Salesforce.com join forces to deliver Concurforce – Concur.com
TripIt launches company calendar – TripIt

AA, HRG explore direct connect distribution agreement - HRGWorldwide
American and Sabre extend agreement into 2012 – Travel Weekly

Chris Perkins appointed CTP CMO – CTP
9/11 Commission heads issue security-gap warning – CNN
TSA remembers 9/11: Stories from the workforce - TSA Blog

Automation in the air dulls pilot skill - AP
Robot planes get their own airport – msnbc.com

Facebook ending deals product after four-month test – Reuters
Travelocity puts a new spin on flash sales with “Dashing Deals” – Travelocity

TripAdvisor investigated by UK Advertising Standards Authority – Telegraph
Pending TripAdvisor spinoff seen as bonanza for Expedia shareholders - Forbes

Hotel industry consensus on methodology for calculating carbon footprints - WTTC
Hotels can go green in energy consumption under new UN scheme - UN.org

Vexing time outside Google’s net bubble – CNET
The AT&T merger and overseas travelers - Mother Jones

Photo: Boeing

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