FairSearch, the group created a month ago to oppose the acquisition of ITA Software by Google, won the support of a significant player in US politics this week.
Herb Kohl, chairman of the subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, wrote an open letter to assistant attorney general Christine Varney, outlining his concerns over the $700 million deal currently being reviewed by the Department of Justice in the US.
The contents of the letter will have no doubt been music to the ears of the FairSearch members (Kayak, Expedia, Sabre, Farelogix et al).
Kohl wrote:
"This deal has the potential to greatly impact the robust online air travel search and booking markets relied on today by millions of consumers and it warrants a careful review by the Antitrust Division to determine whether it will substantially harm competition and consumers in the markets affected."
He continues:
"The deal's critics argue that, once it acquires ITA, Google would have the ability to manipulate search results and the display of those results in a manner that would push consumers toward its own travel services.
"Thus, they fear that Google could both steer consumers to its own services, should it develop its own consumer search service, and/or to the highest bidder. And in doing so, they fear Google could degrade the functionality of its air travel search competitors, ultimately setting itself up as the gatekeeper to online air travel commerce.
"Should the Justice Department find this argument compelling and harm to consumers likely, it should seriously consider conditioning any approval to this deal by prohibiting Google from selling search positioning or otherwise biasing its air travel search results in a commercially motivated way."
This is probably the most damning - and senior, politically - set of statements so far. The battle is becoming fiercer and more vocal as the stakes get higher.
But with the FairSearch campaign now just over a month old, what kind of impact has it had on the marketplace?
Well, clearly Google is rather worried about the formation of a group with such important players working against it and its desire to move into travel in a major way - seen here in its most vociferous attack (or defence?) to date.
FairSearch, for its part, ranges from being vociferous and rather funny (Bob cartoon) to suspiciously quiet.
To help celebrate its first month of operations, Tnooz sent its representative a series of what appeared to be reasonably standard questions:
- What impact does Fairsearch think it has had so far?
- Is it more or less confident that the DoJ will throw out the deal as a result of the publicity in the past month?
- Why has the campaign failed to attract more members to its ranks?
- Has this lack of new members inhibited its overall impact?
- What does the group say to those that have disagreed with its tactics (rather than its motives) and therefore decided not to join?
- There are suggestions that Bing will not join because it would turn the campaign into a Microsoft vs Google issue. Would you agree with some that maybe persuading Bing is the ratchet the campaign needs?
Now, of course, the Bing issue is probably far too much of a commercial hot potato to answer, fair enough - Tnooz was just being cheeky.
But the FairSearch representative failed to answer any of the others ("that’s really all we have for now"). When asked for a reason why it would not respond to the remaining questions, no answer was forthcoming.