Google in executive reshuffle as travel deal approved

Apr 8, 2011, 18:31 GMT

San Francisco - The US Department of Justice has approved Google's 700-million-dollar purchase of travel data company ITA, imposing strict conditions that will require the web giant to share ITA's data with airlines and competing websites, it was announced Friday.

News of the deal coincided with reports that Google CEO Larry Page has reorganized the company's top management in his first week in charge of the online giant, as he bids to streamline decision-making and return the company to its start-up roots. Page promoted six executives to positions of senior vice president, reporting directly to him, rather than Google product head Jonathan Rosenberg who resigned earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The approval of the ITA purchase comes after the DOJ filed to block the acquisition in court, arguing that it would have cut competition for online flight searches.

The settlement requires Google to develop ITA's software and license it to competitors on 'reasonable terms'. Google would also need to build a firewall to prevent it taking advantage of 'competitively sensitive information' gathered from ITA's customers and to refrain from striking exclusive data deals with airlines.

'The Department of Justice's proposed remedy promotes robust competition for airfare websites by ensuring those websites will continue to have access to ITA's pricing and shopping software,' Joseph Wayland, deputy assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, said in a prepared statement. 'The proposed settlement assures that airfare comparison and booking websites will be able to compete effectively, providing benefits to consumers.'

Competitors such as Microsoft, Kayak and Expedia had opposed Google's purchase of ITA, which mage the software that provides data for travel and air fare sites.

News of the settlement comes as Google faces growing antitrust scrutiny in the US and EU over its increasingly dominant position in web search and mobile operating systems where its Android-powered smartphones are now the market leader.

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