Google Is One Step Closer to Its User-Centric Vision of Travel Booking
Photo Credit: Google Flights is slowly adding a tab at the top of its mobile web search interface so that shoppers can click right into hotel search to check rates and availability in their destination cities for the dates they had already selected. Skift / Sean O'Neill
Skift Take
Google is making it easier for travel shoppers to find and use its flight or hotel search through some design changes rolling out in the coming weeks. Watch out, Kayak and Skyscanner. Airlines and hotels will have to pay attention, too.
Google is putting it all together: In the coming weeks, Google will knit together some of its travel services via design changes.
The Alphabet Inc.-owned company's search-advertising business continues to drive a majority of its revenues a couple of decades after its founding. But developing its own travel products, which are still advertising-driven, is adding a twist.
On Tuesday Google announced a gradual rollout of new user experience changes to its travel tools.
Since its travel push began in earnest in 2011, a shopper who has done a flight search and who has then wanted to do a hotel search for the same dates has had to re-enter the itinerary details.
Now Google is adding a navigation bar across the top of the search features. After a flight search is done, a shopper will be able to tap "hotels" and see the same dates and destination already entered for a lodging search.
One of Skift's travel megatrends of 2018 was that Google’s product-led vision is bearing frui
