May 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department stood up
for consumers last month by requiring Google Inc. to submit to
significant conditions on its takeover of ITA Software Inc., a
company that specializes in organizing airline data. The
department’s enforcement action was important. Almost 40 percent
of all online commerce relates to travel, according to comScore
Inc., and ITA provides key flight search technology for Orbitz,
Kayak.com, Expedia Inc.’s TripAdvisor and many other travel
Websites.
According to the department, without the judicially
monitored restrictions, Google’s control over this key asset
“would have substantially lessened competition among providers
of comparative flight search websites in the United States,
resulting in reduced choice and less innovation for consumers.”
