Google is leaving tourism – one of the world’s most expensive brands and the most popular search engines has announced that it is closing its flight booking section. And the hotel reservation section was closed to them even earlier. The reason, oddly enough, is complaints and fines for unfair competition, not problems due to covid at all.
In particular, the latest announcement was that in October of this year, Google’s travel section will be closed in Germany. Then it will be gradually closed around the world – complete closure is scheduled for March 2023. At the same time, it is reported that the hotel reservation section was closed back in May of this year.
The reason is complaints from hotels and fines from industry regulators that follow. Google has been repeatedly sued in the EU, claiming that the search engine’s hotel booking practices “create unfair competition.” As a result, Google was repeatedly fined for large amounts, which the “most expensive brand” does not need: it turned out that it was not worth it.
By the way, Google held second place in the ranking of the most expensive brands for seven years — from 2013 to 2019. At the moment, it has fallen to fourth place, leaving behind Microsoft and Amazon. As for the first place, according to the Interbrand agency, it is always occupied by “McDonald’s”.