More developments at Google likely to tweak the noses of the hotel industry and online travel agencies as it puts tools for Hotel Finder at the top of search results.
A search for a hotel in some country markets now sees a new box appear at the top of the page titled "Comparison Ads", featuring direct links to options on Hotel Finder, the search giant's foray into a hotel search system elsewhere.
Initially only seen in the US, users in a number of countries are now seeing the Hotel Finder tool in search results.
The ire is expected to come from those bidding on keywords to get placement in pay-per-click results either in premium slots at the top of the page or in the existing sidebar.
The format and title being used, Comparison Ads, was originally only for users looking for financial services products such as mortgages and insurance.
Google said in February 2010 that it would consider using Comparison Ads for travel products, but other events appeared overtook it when the ITA Software acquisition kicked in during the summer of 2010 (finally approved in April this year).
Tnooz's source, a hotelier in Las Vegas, says:
"The implications are many, especially to meta search competitors such as Kayak, but of course to OTA’s like Vegas.com and Expedia. In competing with us for clicks traffic in paid search, calling it an 'Comparison ad', Google is pushing users towards its Hotel Finder property.
"I see CPC’s increasing and there will probably be a CPA model once they push enough traffic to this property. Google Places already negatively impacted our clicks share and now Google is competing directly with advertisers? I think it’s extremely reckless and evil."
A Google official says the company has been testing "interactive promotional ads that link to Hotel Finder over the last few months" and confirms that the ads are appearing across English-speaking markets at present.
Google's move will validate what the likes of Expedia have been saying in recent weeks, suggesting that what the search giant does in the hotel space is potentially where the greater returns are for the company.