All Hail Our Google Overlords
October 27, 2008
A recent comment by Stephen Budd raised my awareness about how involved the Internet is becoming in our day to day lives. I use Google services everyday in my life, from email, search, maps and public transit. I like the company and I feel that they have profoundly altered the way that humans access and interpret information. Some people however, are starting to feel that Google has gone too far. If you search ‘Google’ the quoted term “Google Overlord” for instance, it will bring up over 8700 instances.
Is there a Google backlash? A little.
Are they still making money? Over $4 Billion a year in profit.
They have just launched their first mobile OS equipped phone, their first satellite, their own browser, and basically own online video, free email, online advertising, and oh yeah, the search world. So now they know what you are looking for, they know where you are, who you are talking to, and can take a photo of you where ever you are. This brother is getting bigger! Andrew Keen, a British-born author and entrepreneur in California’s Silicon Valley said, “‘They have amassed more information about people in 10 years than all the governments of the world put together.”
Look no further then Kevin May and company’s Travolution blog to see how the travel industry is taking to Google’s recent changes to their advertising model. Seems like travel folks are starting to feel peeved.
Well it turns out that the travel folks are not alone, the Guardian released this article highlighting some of the Pros and Cons of a Google world.
This is not to say that I am against Google, but that I am starting to be aware of its impact in my life, could you go a day/week/month with out it? I don’t think I could, and that is mildly concerning.
| 3.5 |
Written by 
Phil · Filed Under Rants and Reviews | 1 Comment
Travel Innovation Summit - The Battle For Centre Stage Part 2
October 24, 2008
The list of competitors is complete, the first ever Travel Innovation Summit will now feature 28 travel technology competitors that range from small bootstrapping startup (Stephen and I…) to large multi-nationals (Sabre Rattling??).
Bruce Rosard (VP at PhoCusWright) just sent me some of the trends that have surfaced for the competition:
1. The growth of pure Travel 2.0 businesses is slowing—dramatically.
The Travel Innovation Summit demonstrators, along with applicants who were not selected for this year’s event, described very few applications involving new social networks or pure social networking.
2. Travelers will enjoy easy access to rich subjective, objective and experiential content for trip planning.
Look for the pairing of trip planning and established social network brands and other sources of objective and subjective content. To facilitate the learning and shopping process, first movers are emerging in semantic search. Tools that facilitate an easier trip planning experience by narrowing alternatives based on profiles, stated preferences and observed behaviors are coming.
3. Abundant, varied mobile applications are beginning to emerge.
Interestingly, many of the emerging mobile application innovations focus not simply on shopping and purchasing, but on a variety of content, including day-of-travel and concierge applications. Creative approaches to the mobile business model challenge also are arising.
4. The Long Tail is coming of age.
With low cost computers and more pervasive Internet access than ever, the Long Tail of travel is poised to spread beyond the traditional air, car and hotel market. Unique approaches, including Software as a Service (SaaS), are on the horizon for the effective, efficient distribution of additional content and services.
5. Air shopping is still a work in progress.
Innovators like Air Canada are redefining the airline seat as a product—think of a world where every seat is a SKU with unique characteristics and services—rather than a mere commodity. The complexities of air shopping mean new approaches are still in their infancy—with ample room to grow and mature.
6. Attention shifts from “learn, shop, book” in the travel value chain.
Innovators are recognizing that elements beyond “learn, shop, book” in the travel value chain can be monetized. Expect pre-trip, trip experience, and post-trip technology models to arise.
7. Building supporting business applications loses its luster.
Innovators are focused on the customer-facing applications in the travel value chain, with much less emphasis on the infrastructure services that support content development, content distribution, financial accounting and settlement, and even provisioning of Internet access.
I originally did a brief review of the original competitors and this post will finish with some of the latest entries into the arena. I have also added two new indicators, funding, to let readers know who owns the company and how much has been invested (I may need your help) and target: b2c, b2b, b2b&c.
I am biased in my reviews (maybe a little) because Rezgo is one of the competitors in this competition, so feel free to let me know if you think I am crazy off base.
Adventure Link
URL: http://www.adventurelink.com
Overview: Aim to be a GDS for the adventure travel segment. They claim to be “the 21st century equivalent to the ancient Roman Forum (minus the toga’s, of course)”. I am not exactly sure who powers who, but it seems that their back end in run by Trisept Solutions, and their product is fed by VaxVacation Access.
Funding: Not Sure
Target: B2B
Site look: 7/10
Potential to Shake Industry: 7/10
Innovation: 6/10
Success: 7/10
Clairvoyix
Overview:This is not my area of specialty, however their easy to understand design allows the common man to understand the process of Database marketing and the value it can have for any business. They give clear examples of this and it looks pretty good. They do need to update their Legal information on the bottom of the page though…
Funding: Seed/Early stage funding from goffventures.biz
Target: B2B
Site look: 7/10 (Update Legal)
Potential to Shake Industry: 6/10
Innovation: 5/10
Success: 8/10
Deal Base
Overview:A user generated hotel deal website that accepts deals from any source. They currently host over 7000 deals across multiple sites. Site guests can link directly to the hotel or booking site to complete the booking. I wonder if they have referral agreements in place or if they have an advertising based business model. Their Alexa ranking is quite low considering they are B2C.
Funding: Not Sure - Any Ideas?
Target: B2C
Site look: 7/10
Potential to Shake Industry: 5/10
Innovation: 6/10
Success: 6/10
escapia.com
Overview: I think Bill Furlong (CEO) has been listening to some of Rezgo’s meetings, his model is very near to ours, except it is for a completely different market, vacation rentals. His system gives property owners a booking system (front and back end) that allows them to accept bookings through their website as well as through 3rd part marketing sites. (Not a bad idea;)
Funding: Venture Capital - At least 2 different rounds equaling over 2.8 million
Target: B2C
Site look: 8/10
Potential to Shake Industry: 7/10
Innovation: 8/10
Success: 8/10
17 More reviews to come. Look for them in the following days.
| 3.5 |
Written by Phil · Filed Under Rants and Reviews | 1 Comment
