Google Focuses on Search and Advertising for Hotels, Leaving AI-Driven Booking Infrastructure to Others
💻 Jun 30, 2026: Google uses Gemini to find hotels, linking users to Google Hotels or direct booking pages instead of completing transactions. The GDS system, running for 40 years, uses "pull" technology for real-time bookings, unlike "push" methods like DirectBooker. Structured data from GDS includes a payment settlement layer standardized by HEDNA, HTNG, and OpenTravel. Google's advertising model conflicts with building a neutral booking system, leaving space for others to develop AI-native distribution systems.
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