Why Google Trips is not only a travel app
In just few days the brand new app Google Trips skyrocketed store listings and it doesn’t matter if Google owns Android and could potentially adjust them, it’s not necessary when you have such a famous brand and media attention. Google is Google.
It knows what you want, where you are, what are your relations, what are your interests… It listens to you with Google Now, it sees what you write with Google Keyboard, it knows what you are looking for and tracks everything, not only when you use Chrome or Android, but also when you visit a third party website with Google Analytics or some ads (by Google Adsense, of course). Moving towards travel, Google wants to be with you even on holiday (and even offline), when you are going to relax and spend your money. Quite simple, it’s the data business.
At ZonzoFox we knew Google was working on a killer travel app and we were waiting for this moment. Any panic, it’s a good moment for a startup like us: thanks to Google Trips people will massively consider using apps when they travel. Smart travel assistants are the future and we are in, offering one of the most appreciated travel apps in Italy (4.65 stars out of 5 average rating) currently able to provide better itineraries, more curated content and privacy.
Google came in because it wants to be everywhere, silently grabbing your data, the money you pay its services with, being aware or not.
The opportunities brought by the rise of mobile internet are so big that of course Google cannot simply get money from in-app purchases and mobile ads.
The app world in fact put at the same time Google at risk: apps are “walled gardens” where Google’s bots cannot enter, unless it owns them. That’s why Google is so interested in entering the app market as developer. It’s not a gift to the users but a strategy for ubiquity.
Google Trips in fact is not a porting of an existing desktop or hybrid service, but a mobile first service, a new way to compete with incumbents.
All trials to imitate Google in search failed, even when backed by big companies. Online search today is a Google domain. Mobile apps, however, opened up a new era: app content cannot be easily indexed as it happens in websites. If you have a website and you are not on Google, you are out, but for specific information queries some apps can protect their databases and eventually perform better than Google. The majority of web searches today is intermediated by Google, which not only can rank results as it prefers but also can add ads around your content.
In-app vertical search engines can bypass Google. This can be a huge threat for Google and it’s one reason for it to enter in the app world as a player, leveraging all its assets (such as Gmail access) to gain market leadership and push the others out.
Don’t be evil. There’s Google for that too… it’s business, baby!
Marco Rizzone // Co-Founder & CEO @ZonzoFox
