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Online Travel

Google Plans to String Its Travel Assets Together

Sean O'Neill photo
Sean O'Neill
skift forum europe berlin 2018 rob torres google

Photo Credit: Rob Torres, managing director of the travel sector for Google, spoke Thursday in Berlin on-stage at Skift Forum Europe 2018 with Executive Editor Dennis Schaal. Torres said Google does not plan to compete directly with the online travel companies like Expedia Group and Booking Holdings, which spend heavily in its paid search auctions. Skift

Skift Take

We come in peace, a top Google executive essentially said while addressing the travel industry on Thursday at Skift Forum Europe in Berlin. One possible industry response might be: "Trust, but verify."

No topic sets travel executive tongues wagging like Google's potential to upset the status quo. On Thursday, the buzzy topic was tackled directly by Rob Torres, managing director of the travel sector for Google, when he spoke onstage at Skift Forum Europe in Berlin. "We're very, very happy being the trusted place people go to search for now very relevant and personalized travel information... regardless of where you are in your journey — high up in the funnel dreaming or in your destination and experiencing," Torres said. "We don't absolutely believe at this point we need to transact to make that happen," he said. As of today, Google is primarily an advertising service that lets consumers research their trips or do comparison-shopping for a limited range of products, such as flights.

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