Search engine Google will phase out its ‘Book on Google’ service for flights for non-US users at the end of the month.
As of October, Google will stop offering direct booking functionality through its searches and instead will direct web users to partners such as airlines and OTAs.
Google said it had seen a declining share of Google Flights bookings coming from ‘Book on Google’, which was launched in 2015. At that time, Google said it aimed to help facilitate transactions for partners whose websites weren’t optimised for mobile phones.
Google said that since 2015, the travel industry and the web have evolved, and partners’ mobile websites have “improved substantially”.
Google shut down ‘Book on Google’ for hotels in late May 2022, owing to declining usage.
The change will see ‘Book on Google’ for flights functionality end on 30 September for users worldwide, except for the USA, where it will finish in March 2023.
“We originally offered this functionality to give people a simpler way to buy their tickets and to help our partner airlines and OTAs receive more bookings. However, we’ve found over time that people actually want to book directly on partner websites, and we always strive to meet user preferences whenever possible.” said a spokesperson for Google.
