TripAdvisor not particularly worried about Facebook, but Google is another thing

The annual interview with TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer at the PhoCusWright conference touched briefly on the various elephants in the room.

First up was Facebook - the ubiquitous social network which TripAdvisor integrated with in June 2010 to create its Trip Friends tool.

But despite such collaborative efforts, Facebook is launching new features at an astonishing pace, including Facebook Places, Facebook Deals, Facebook Questions and the new messaging service, all within the space of the past six months, raising questions as to where it might head next.

Some kind of stronger presence or tools in travel? Open reviewing systems?

Kaufer thinks for a moment, then says slowly: "We are not PARTICULARLY worried about Facebook."

It sounds like a very careful response.

But on Google, the other elephant stomping loudly around the fringes of the industry, Kaufer is far more direct.

Google, he says, has the power to completely alter the marketplace and its recent moves should be monitored closely.

Now, TripAdvisor (along with its parent company Expedia) is a member of the FairSearch coalition against the acquisition of ITA Software by Google.

But, as one delegate mutters: "There was a site about eight years ago which completely altered the hotel marketplace - but I guess that kind of disruption is okay?".