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Google Introduces Hotel Search

46 points by processing 15y ago

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
smackfu 15y ago
(Not even a "beta" tagline, an "experiment".) My go-to place for hotels is TripAdvisor. This doesn't seem to have an real improvements.
rxin 15y ago
Couple things that impressed me ... - Results are returned instantly. - The heat map idea, coupled with draggable area, is pretty cool. Nice to see more competition and innovation in hotel search.
Shenglong 15y ago
There's good potential here for accurate price discrimination. If Google collects and passes on user data (especially now that there's G+), they'll know a banker can probably pay more for a hotel than a student. I'm not sure if they'll put this into practice, but this sure gives them the ability to.
- hugh3 15y ago
  Thus creating a world where everybody struggles to look as poor as possible to Google's algorithms in the hopes of getting a good price? I'll just google "how do i gets my babby daddy to give me his welfare check" ten times a day, and use a separate account when it comes time to research private yachts. Cha-ching!
- abraham 15y ago
  Why would Google do this? There is no way it would not be discovered leading to a lot of ill will and little gain for Google. Plus I know of no current Google marketplace where they adjust cost based on user information.
sek 15y ago
http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/ http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/
ComputerGuru 15y ago
Gorgeous. If only they could do the same for apartment/house rentals! Really, that would be perfect.
- rxin 15y ago
  I think this is what you want: http://www.padmapper.com/ http://www.padmapper.com/
  - ComputerGuru 15y ago
    It doesn't have many listings, and their craigslist listings are incomplete and inaccurate.
hugh3 15y ago
This is the reason why I'm long on GOOG. There's a huge world of revenue out there, and they just have to reach out and grab it.
RyanDScott 15y ago
I'm just connecting fictitious dots here, but it seems a rather crafty move to launch a hotel search site in the midst of the Airbnb debacle. "Oh, I was going to use Airbnb, then I heard about so-and-so's experience with them and decided to book a hotel instead ... and oh look! A spiffy new hotel search service!" Which reminds me--I think there was an article linked here on HN not long ago about Google's timing in releasing new products/features--can't find it now, but makes me wonder if Google doesn't keep a few projects in the wings, waiting for the opportune moment (i.e. best PR moment) to launch them.

46 points by processing 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

(Not even a "beta" tagline, an "experiment".) My go-to place for hotels is TripAdvisor. This doesn't seem to have an real improvements.

rxin 15y ago

Couple things that impressed me ... - Results are returned instantly. - The heat map idea, coupled with draggable area, is pretty cool. Nice to see more competition and innovation in hotel search.

Shenglong 15y ago

There's good potential here for accurate price discrimination. If Google collects and passes on user data (especially now that there's G+), they'll know a banker can probably pay more for a hotel than a student. I'm not sure if they'll put this into practice, but this sure gives them the ability to.

hugh3 15y ago
Thus creating a world where everybody struggles to look as poor as possible to Google's algorithms in the hopes of getting a good price? I'll just google "how do i gets my babby daddy to give me his welfare check" ten times a day, and use a separate account when it comes time to research private yachts. Cha-ching!
abraham 15y ago
Why would Google do this? There is no way it would not be discovered leading to a lot of ill will and little gain for Google. Plus I know of no current Google marketplace where they adjust cost based on user information.

sek 15y ago

http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/ http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/

ComputerGuru 15y ago

Gorgeous. If only they could do the same for apartment/house rentals! Really, that would be perfect.

rxin 15y ago
I think this is what you want: http://www.padmapper.com/ http://www.padmapper.com/
- ComputerGuru 15y ago
  It doesn't have many listings, and their craigslist listings are incomplete and inaccurate.

hugh3 15y ago

This is the reason why I'm long on GOOG. There's a huge world of revenue out there, and they just have to reach out and grab it.

RyanDScott 15y ago

I'm just connecting fictitious dots here, but it seems a rather crafty move to launch a hotel search site in the midst of the Airbnb debacle. "Oh, I was going to use Airbnb, then I heard about so-and-so's experience with them and decided to book a hotel instead ... and oh look! A spiffy new hotel search service!" Which reminds me--I think there was an article linked here on HN not long ago about Google's timing in releasing new products/features--can't find it now, but makes me wonder if Google doesn't keep a few projects in the wings, waiting for the opportune moment (i.e. best PR moment) to launch them.