Goibibo becomes the first OTA partner for Google Flight Search in India
When you search for flights, Google won’t serve you those 10 blue link results that you are normally accustomed to. Google introduced a new Flight Search tool for Indian market recently. Now we’ve learned that ibibo is the local partner for Google. While using Google Flight Search in India, travelers are offered the option to book the best flights available directly on the airline site or redirected to Goibibo.com. The association, therefore, benefits the customers by allowing them to quickly find, compare and book flights from their mobile devices, tablets or desktops in the most seamless way.
Ashish Kashyap, Founder & CEO of ibibo group told YourStory, “Goibibo.com is the first OTA in India to partner with Google for flight search. This is in line with our philosophy and core differentiation of delivering the fastest booking experience to our travelers.”
Over the past five-six years, Gurgaon-based Goibibo has grown over 100% YoY. Now the company is among the leading online travel aggregators in India. Last year, ibibo launched goCash wallet. Users can either use goCash or credit/debit cards to pay for bookings. Goibibo is part of ibibo group that also owns India’s giant online bus ticketing platform, redBus.in.
Flight search product will bring in ad revenue for Google as they will be able to charge for lead generation and customer acquisition. Goibibo believes this association will reinforces Goibibo’s core value proposition of offering fast and trusted booking experience and will enable the portal to reach out with its services to a wider user base.Regarding the nature of the partnership between ibibo and Google, Ashish says, “Goibibo is an online aggregator which not only enables users to compare and
Regarding the nature of the partnership between ibibo and Google, Ashish says, “Goibibo is an online aggregator which not only enables users to compare and search but also conduct an end to end transaction – make payment, get their e-tickets and if required make changes and amendments. Google flight search from our context is a meta search that re-directs consumers to Goibibo. These consumers are the ones who want to make their bookings/ payments and get fulfillment. Goibibo.com is the first OTA in India to have been integrated with Google’s flight Search.”
What does Google's involvement in the space mean to the OTA industry? Ashish replies, “From our vantage point, Google is a meta search. Which means it is enabling users to further refine their search. Travelers were in any case searching for queries such as flights from Delhi to Mumbai etc; now Google flight search enables users to do so in a more structured manner and at the same time redirect them directly to Goibibo for the user to make the booking, payment, and complete the transaction. Further, this is in line with our philosophy of getting bookings done fast.”
ICYM: YourStory had covered Goibibo’s journey from an 8-member team and $50k in seed capital to redBus acquisition and 200 team members.
Try comparing prices for your next domestic or international trip on Flight Search and let us know your experience. It will be interesting to see how this product will be adopted in India. Will people prefer it over Cleartrip and MakeMyTrip?
