Google has agreed to buy ITA Software, a company that provides solutions to organize and present information about the flights, as well as buying and selling of travel, seat reservation and more. ITA's customer list includes a wide range of airlines and websites that offer services around the search and sale of flights, including Alitalia, Continental Airlines, Lot, U.S. Airways, Aeroplan, Microsoft Bing, Kayak and Orbitz. The acquisition is Google's fourth-largest to date: 700 million dollars. Google is content that is not, unlike Microsoft, Kayak and Orbitz, to license the ITA to improve their services to travelers, but buy the whole company. Schmidt explains that it is a prerequisite for achieving the "deep integration" you think with other Google technologies and services.
According to the Wall Street Journal, several of ITA's competitors and customers toyed with the idea to buy the ITA, including Amadeus, Expedia, Kayak and Travel Port. There have been rumors of a coalition, apparently with Microsoft, which was in the process of preparing a joint bid.
Google boss assured that they will adhere to all ITA's existing agreements, and want new partners welcome.
Schmidt said he expects the U.S. competition authorities FTC (Free Trade Commission) will investigate the purchase of the ITA, and that the audit would end up approving it. FTC spent a long time to investigate Google's acquisition of AdMob, but finally said "yes" in May, six months after the purchase was announced.
Analyst Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research is quoted as an expert on the market for travel services of several international media. He says it will surprise him if the FTC finds reason for concern.
An expert on antitrust matters, Ted Henne Berry in the law firm Orrick, told the Financial Times that the approval is likely to be conditional, since the ITA's software plays a large role to other search services.
