Location Location Location isn't just the name of a second-rate DIY TV show in the UK - it appears to be a growing trend in online travel with one ex-Google and Expedia exec showing why.
Paul Onnen has swapped the corporate world of Expedia Inc (where he was chief technology officer) and a director of engineering post at Google in Switzerland until last year to oversee technological development at Hawaii-based Team Vision Virtual.
TVV designs and builds Google Earth-fronted patches for destination websites to allow them to integrate content (and advertising from third parties).
The B2B system also produces virtual tours of hotels and other destinations using Google Earth combined with in-site video. [Good example]
Onnen was based at Google Switzerland until 2009, a position he took up after overseeing technology at Expedia Inc from 2005 to 2007. Former roles include Cisco Systems and Nordstrom.
The hiring illustrates that many of the opportunities in web-based software (a challenge big enough to lure a figure like Onnen away from Google, for example) are beginning to come in the form of providing additional services to users through existing platforms such as Google Earth and other mapping systems.