When the Google-ITA Software deal was announced last week the search giant produced a handy diagram of how it views the travel ecosystem.
Sitting alongside ITA Software, which it intends to buy, were the three GDSs (Travelport, Sabre and Amadeus), Expedia's Best Fair Search and European startup Everbread.
The wide array of companies seemingly operating in the same space , despite their age or size of business, were - some suspected darkly - put there in order to allay concerns ahead of possible anti-trust hearings in the US.
Google has since admitted it expects the Department of Justice to look into the deal.
Fast forward six days after the announcement of the deal and the name of yet another small player was mysteriously added to the chart yesterday.
Those who read the TLabs Showcase for Vayant (coincidentally, also published yesterday) will know that Vayant is also a real-time pricing and availability engine but also a self-confessed "newcomer" to the industry... as well as late to Google's ecosystem.
Google says:

"We added Vayant because we learned that their product competes with QPX, and we wanted to provide an accurate portrait of how competitive and robust the online travel space is."
Nevertheless the late addition is an intriguing one and questions may emerge as to why Vayant was not added in the first place, at the time of the ITA acquisition.
NB: Keen onlookers will also note that Northwest Airlines/Delta has been removed.
A Vayant official says:

"We are glad to be included in the competitive set because Google realises we have the technology to be able to compete in that space."