Online travel agents wary of Google encroaching on their turf

Washington

AT the largest online travel conference last week, industry executive Steve Hafner was asked an unusual question: What's the first word that comes to mind when you think about Google? "Annoying", said Mr Hafner, chief executive officer of Priceline Group Inc's Kayak business.

Mr Hafner captured the mood well. Despite more than US$15 billion in annual revenue and hefty profits, online travel agents such as Priceline and Expedia Inc are increasingly wary of Google encroaching on their turf. That's lifting tension with a sector that's one of Google's biggest advertisers.

The two camps once lived in harmony. The travel giants appeared on top of Google travel search results, either by buying ads or tweaking their websites to suit Google's algorithm. But in recent years, Google remade its search engine to show its own flight and hotel information above links to Priceline and Expedia. It launched a trip-planning app in September and sometimes lets travellers book hotels and flights on Google. Some industry players expect more direct competition like this. "Google has a bigger vision than just purely how much they're making on ad revenue," …