Google buys destination specialist Frommers for an undisclosed amount. What Google is going to do with Frommers is still unclear. Is Google planning to shutdown Frommers like what Facebook did with Gowalla in 2011? Answer is clearly NO. Google is well known for acquiring a product and seamlessly integrating it with their existing products. Once such instance is the smooth integration of Panoramio (acquired in 2007) in their Google Maps and Google Earth products.
Having said that, there is also an instance where Google acquired a product – “Ruba” (a visual travel site and a community with focus on guides, photos, maps and interactive tour listings) in 2010 only for their strong team and not for the product. This Frommers acquisition by Google has triggered lot of speculations on many areas. We have listed few below:

– Is Google planning to be THE thing for Travel? They already have ITA Software in their kitty that powers their Flight product. Recently, Google rolled out Google Hotel Finder product.

– Its very obvious that Google will integrate Frommers into its suite of applications. That’s exactly what they did when they acquired Zagat (if you search for a restaurant in Google, you will see the details pulled from Zagat). This being the case, what happens to all other destination marketing companies and other online travel agencies who have invested their time and effort to bring up their SEO ranking?

– With Google’s backing, Frommers is going to get a facelift in terms of reach to customers. What happens to the competitors of Frommers?

– Google Places is another sweet-spot where Frommers can be integrated. How are the competitors (like Foursquare) of Places going to be prepared for this?

Google has clearly spiced up the already hot travel industry
Author: Karthick Prabu