Google is in talks to acquire airline IT and services provider ITA Software for the price of $1 billion. According to Bloomberg, it’s not a done deal yet, but several people familiar with the matter confirmed that negotiations between two companies are indeed happening. A billion is a big number, but Google’s treasure chest holds more than enough coin for such an endeavor.
ITA Software is known for its airfare search and pricing system QPX, which is used by many U.S. and international airlines.
The benefits for such an acquisition for Google are obvious: travel search. Microsoft’s Bing, which trails behind Google on many fronts, is actually doing quite well in this area. Hop on to Bing Travel, and you can find and book flights and hotels directly from there. If Google’s deal with ITA Software goes through, we can expect a similar offering from Google soon.
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Tags: Google, ITA Software
