Why bots?
By Stefan Sabev
So why would Skyscanner bother with bots? For me the answer is quite simple — because with bots you can get a simple answer to your complicated questions.
It’s hard to miss the fact that bots are suddenly everywhere — there are tons of Medium posts, a proliferation of different platforms and everybody seems to be building that next killer bot.
At Skyscanner we’ve been doing conversational search for over a year. Our first foray into the field was building a prototype hotel search bot for Telegram. We then built an Alexa skill, which meant that now you could search for flights through a conversation. In April Facebook also opened up their messenger platform to all developers. My team and a few more people interested in the topic dropped everything else and decided to build a conversation platform and an integration with Facebook messenger. You can catch up on the details of how over on Code Voyagers.
So why would Skyscanner bother with bots? For me the answer is quite simple — because with bots you can get a simple answer to your complicated questions. With travel there is so much to ask — where should I go, when should I go, how much is it going to cost me? We are processing huge amounts of quotes a day and with bots we are making it easier for you to find that perfect one.
Bots and Growth
The way bots stimulate growth is a two fold one:
- You can be found on multiple platforms. Initially bot discovery was a bit messy — you had to know what to search for, however now we can see Skype and Slack below showcasing that by creating a directory bots can be much easier to find.
This means that you can be reached in multiple ways. With Skype this is amplified by the fact that the bot can be used in a group. Chatting with your friends and suddenly decide that you want to check out how much it costs to get to Barcelona next weekend because a band you like is playing? We got you covered.
2. With improved natural language processing we aim to answer all sorts of complicated questions — “Where can I go for £200?”, “Where can I go in three hours?”. Previously that wasn’t as natural because you’d have to fill in a few text boxes and input all your requirements. With a simple query like the ones above it’s much easier to get started.
The bots can also be a really good tool for inspiration — we see a lot of people using them for inspiration features such as country search, most popular destinations and flexible dates. We’ve implemented these but we won’t stop there. With the questions above, you will be able to get a product that can answer almost all of your travel questions.
What next?
For us at Skyscanner, it has been an exciting four months. We’ve launched two bots and we’ve got a few more coming up. We’ve been building our conversation service, which is now used internally as well. Our immediate focus right now is to add more and more value to the traveller, so you can find your next holiday easier and can always get that travel question answered. And what’s best of all — now you can do it in a group with our brand new Skype bot.
If we look broader it seems that this is only the beginning for bots. 20 years ago there were a ton of IRC chat bots. Web chat bots followed shortly after. So why are we seeing this influx of bots again? With mobile technology advancing and with the multiple chat platforms with > 100 million users each, we have reached the critical mass needed to take this mainstream. And I am super excited to see what people come up with.
What might be the next big thing? Will it be a bot accessible via an app — personal assistant style — or will it be bots accessible on every platform? I guess we’ll find out soon enough…
About the author
Hi, name is Stefan. I started my journey at Skyscanner as a Data Acquisition Intern and after wearing multiple hats over the years I finally came to the realisation that product is what I wanted to do all along. I currently work as a Product Manager in our Bots team and I want to make travel easier for myself and the rest of us. I love Skyscanner as a place to work, because it’s a melting pot of really smart people and I learn something new every day. The Skyscanner Bots Team play hard and work hard! Want to join in? We’re hiring for Marketing and Product positions, take a look at the current selection of Skyscanner Growth Job roles available.
