Skift Take
Despite the hype, neither the Amazon Echo nor the Google Home is delivering the goods yet for voice-command travel research. Google's effort has the most promise, though.
On Tuesday Amazon aimed to retain its dominance in the sales of voice-powered Internet devices by beginning to take orders for a new device, Echo Show, which has a screen and basic video-conferencing features.
Amazon leads the market for voice-activated personal assistants. Analysts estimate that the company has sold between 8 million and 11 million of its speakers since all-but-pioneering the device category in 2014.
But Google has gained ground since it launched a competitor device, Google Home, last November. Earlier this week research firm eMarketer estimated that Google has already gained the second-highest market share, at 24 percent.
Last month Google added several flight-search commands to Google Home. Users can ask general questions, such as how much flights to a particular city or country cost.
In Skift's tests of Google Home and Amazon Echo, neither device wowed. The biggest drawback is that none of them yet allow voice-powered flight or hotel booking.
Google's interface offers some advantages over Amazon's.
For instance, a person can say, "Okay, Google, how much are flights to Montreal?" and get baseline results from one's local airport. Google Home will ask questions about the person's preferred dates of travel and will offer to set up email alerts to track flight prices for a general location or date (though not yet a specific flight or airline).
Amazon depends on third-parties to develop its travel "skills," or basic functions. Kayak has the best of these, in Skift's tests. But a person must speak the awkward phrase, "Alexa, ask Kayak how much are flights to Montreal?" and then be guided through prompts to name ideal travel dates.
Kayak offers helpful context, such as the difference in s
