Microsoft-owned Bing Travel announced today it will be partnering with travel booking site Kayak.com to provide expanded flight search results.
Kayak’s meta-search engine scours the Internet to compare fares directly from airlines as well as from other search engines such as Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline.
This model will be integrated into Bing’s existing search functions, which includes an auto-suggest price-predictor tool that anticipates the lowest-priced flight on your route over the next 90 days.
Microsoft entered the travel booking market with Bing Travel after it acquired Farecast.com in 2008 and incorporated content from MSN.
Not long after the site launch, officials from Kayak sent Microsoft a legal letter pointing out similarities in the design and function to Kayak’s own interface. Microsoft denied any wrongdoing in that matter.
This move is happening just months after Microsoft joined Fair Search, a coalition of travel companies such as Kayak, Hotwire, TripAdvisor, and Sabre Holdings, that are fighting against Google’s planned acquisition of online travel firm ITA.
ITA’s software is currently used by several airlines and travel booking engines, including Bing and Kayak.
By Nikki Erinakis for PeterGreenberg.com.
Related Links: Bing.com, CNET, Wired
Related Links on PeterGreenberg.com:
- Fairsearch.org Adds New Members In Opposition To Google’s Acquisition of ITA
- Has Online Travel Booking Lost Its Luster?
- American Airlines Allies With Priceline In Dispute With Sabre, Travelport
- AA Gets New Ally: Google’s ITA Acquisition Imminent As DOJ Considers Lawsuit
- News Analysis: What The Battle Between American Airlines & OTAs Means
- American Wins Injunction Against Sabre As Booking Wars Continue
- Sabre Dumps American Airlines As Online Booking Wars Heat Up
