![]() QPX for enterprise was not part of the shutdown and still is available today. ![]() There was speculation that Google was looking to shift their focus to customers instead of businesses and that they wanted to amplify and improve Google Flights to compete more directly with OTAs and metasearch engines. In addition, ITA had a range of active customers like Orbitz, Kayak, and CheapTickets along with airlines such as American and United. This was particularly surprising given the fact that ITA was one of the most successful and popular airfare brokers pre-acquisition. One of the reasons Google shared for shutting down the Google Flights API was dwindling interest amongst travel companies, startups, and consumers. The usual first 50 queries for free remained, but per query costs would fall to $0.02. In addition, as part of the announcement, Google reduced the rate on API calls for existing users. The end of service announcement for QPX Express provided 6-months notice for clients. The terms of their acquisition - powering access to the public-facing API program for five years - had been completed. To enable more sellers, QPX Express offered the first 50 queries for free and charged a per query fee of $0.035 thereafter. The thought at the time was that the Google Flights API would make it easier for consumers to find and book flights, enable quick comparison shopping for airlines and agencies, and promote a healthy travel market by increasing competition and innovation. The terms of Google’s acquisition required Google to allow competitors and customers access to the wealth of data they purchased for a minimum of 5 years.Ī few years after the acquisition, Google offered QPX Express, which was a simplified version of QPX allowing more companies to access flight information - and this product was better known as the Google Flights API. Essentially, and speaking broadly, the risk was that Google would buy access to ITA data and capabilities and then take its ball and go home, creating a massively uneven playing field in the market by removing developer access to flight information.Īfter an eight-month investigation, Google got the green light to purchase ITA, but there were caveats attached. Google’s announcement was met with heavy scrutiny from the US Government’s Department of Justice who worried about the potential for antitrust violations. That acquisition came with a $700 million price tag, which signalled a big bet on travel for Google. In July 2010, Google announced their intention to buy ITA. Pairing these two products together, it becomes quite easy to spot similarities to what we now know as Google Flights. At the time, it was considered the most customisable metadata search engine. The ITA Matrix does not allow you to book actual tickets, but just surfaces the results for you to decide whether you will purchase directly from the source. It is a basic tool that returns the lowest fares for flights by analysing flight routes and prices from various airline carriers. The ITA Matrix is a public interface for what QPX provides - and is still accessible today. ![]() It is tailored for larger travel companies that would have higher volumes or require access to enhanced features. QPX is an enterprise solution offering robust search and pricing through ITA’s platform. ITA was well-known for two products - QPX and the ITA Matrix. (ITA) is a flight information software company founded in 1996 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this post, we walk through the history and the shutdown of the Google Flights API and share an alternative solution. Luckily today, there are many ways developers can access airline content, although some may be faster or easier than others. However, in 2018, Google ended access to the public-facing API and now only offers access through the QPX enterprise product. Over a decade ago, Google announced the acquisition of ITA Software Inc. The Google Flights API offered developers access to aggregated airline data, including flight times, availability and prices.
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