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Google acquires ITA Software
- neutronicus 16y agoI wonder if the Common Lisp codebase will survive the acquisition?
- cpr 16y agoGoogle higher-ups strike me as not so dumb that they'd misunderstand the crucial nature of that code...
- neutronicus 16y agoThe DOJ's conditions also seem to tie their hands a bit as far as what changes they can make with ITA's software, I realize.
- diegob 16y agoDo you have a link? This seems interesting.
- neutronicus 16y agohttp://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2424540 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2424540
- peterb 16y agoI'm pretty sure Mr. Norvig will have a thing or two to say about this :-)
- swah 16y agoNah, I think they'll rewrite it in C++. No, really.
- rbanffy 16y agoI, for one, hope Google App Engine starts supporting it ;-)
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- calpaterson 16y agoHipmunk might be in trouble.
- travisglines 16y agoToday feels like Google (attempt of) squashing YCombinator startups day. First they're doing Youtube Live -> Justin.tv etc. Then better flight search -> Hipmunk
- kovar 16y agoEvolution in action.
- cryptoz 16y agoIt could also be viewed as epic validation that the ideas are gold. I most certainly believe Hipmunk can compete against Google; the team is completely awesome and they're far more nimble and agile. Although Google does have an unbeatable vision of Maps I'd imagine...there's no real reason you shouldn't be able to get bus times and airplane times in the same place. And perhaps if you could then pay for the bus and the plane using your Android NFC... Oh jeez. I love the future.
- benologist 16y agoLuckily google sucks at squashing startups and ends up buying them for ridiculous amounts of money.
- eddmc 16y agoHipmunk are a customer of ITA. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1912477 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1912477 In the Google announcement, they say that ITA’s existing contracts will be honored & have extended contracts through to 2016 This deal was announced a long time ago. Hipmunk will have already planned for this situation
- SwellJoe 16y agoI'm pretty sure this drastically increases the odds of a Google acquisition of Hipmunk.
- runevault 16y agoI'm sort of surprised this went through since their advantage in search mixed with the power ITA has within their field leads to very powerful mix that could put competitors at a serious disadvantage. Maybe the DoJ saw something I did not to make it less of a problem, but even as a google fan it's... ungh. I don't like this going through.
- skymt 16y agoThe key was Google's agreement to continue licensing QPX on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms”. According to the linked Justice Department press release, they're also required to continue development of the publicly-available version of QPX.
- runevault 16y agoVery interesting. Be very curious to see if it is enforced (although I think google is more prone to not risk it since they are under so much scrutiny if nothing else).
- pdaviesa 16y agoA bit conspiracy theory-ish but perhaps the DoJ let this go through now to provide more anti-competitive ammo 3-5 years down the road.
- dave1619 16y agoWho does Jeff Huber, SVP of Commerce and Local, report to?
- metageek 16y agoLarry Page, I think.
- eddmc 16y agoThere is some commentary on the terms that the Department of Justice have put on the deal here: http://www.tnooz.com/2011/04/08/news/google-ita-software-deal-approved-by-us-authorities-with-conditions/ http://www.tnooz.com/2011/04/08/news/google-ita-software-dea... In brief: - Google will be required to license QPX software to airfare websites on commercially reasonable terms. - Google will be required to continue to fund research and develop the product “at least” at similar levels to what ITA had invested. - Google will be required to develop and offer ITA’s InstaSearch product to other travel websites.
- bauchidgw 16y agorough times ahead for flight and travel sites (which generated good money via leeds to flight search sites) ... googles killing one internet ecosystem after the other.
- maayank 16y agoHow cool would it be if you could type "flights to somewhere sunny for under $500 in May" How cool would it be to receive suggestions for flights in May with clusters in my social graph as destinations?
- eddmc 16y agoTo your first question, you should take a look at http://adioso.com/ http://adioso.com/ (YC W09) by http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=tomhoward http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=tomhoward Has been covered a few times on HN already e.g. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1651737 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1651737
- maayank 16y agoThe first question is not mine, but a quote from the article. But I never knew of Adioso and it seems quite neat! So thanks :)
- hristov 16y agoRight because before I had to keep random acquaintances as friends and read their updates in order not to hurt their feelings, now I have to fly to random places in order not to hurt peoples feelings. Can't wait.
- thaumaturgy 16y agoI had a business acquaintance get her feelings hurt because I didn't follow her back when she followed me on Twitter. I looked at her feed and she literally had tweeted about her breakfast that morning. I quit Twitter instead so that I wouldn't have to hurt anyone's feelings anymore.
- aerique 16y agoWhat about just not caring whether you hurt someone's trivial feelings? That is becoming an important feeling in this ever-connected world.
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- philfreo 16y agoDoes anyone know what makes ITA so special? Why don't any of the big airlines have APIs that Hipmunk, Kayak, Orbitz, etc. can use directly? (Do any of them?) Seems odd that everyone should have to rely on this one company for the data, when it should be originating from the airlines.
- aerique 16y agoITA is special not because of the data but because of what it does with the data. The others haven't been able to reproduce that. Think of it as the Google of airline data.
- nano81 16y agoTo give an example, check out http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ I've never found anything as useful or flexible for searching airline data.
- mkramlich 16y ago> Think of it as the Google of airline data. And now they will be the Google of the Google of airline data.
- Homunculiheaded 16y agoOrbitz and Kayak both use them, check the wikipedia page on them for more info in that area[1]. ITA's real claim to fame, at least in communities like HN, is that they're one of the largest Common Lisp shops still around. Also my experience interacting with their employees has been that they're an exceedingly smart and talent bunch of people. Additionally, and especially if you lived in the Boston/Cambridge area, they're pretty well known for there rather challenging interview puzzles which used to be plastered all over the T [2] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITA_Software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITA_Software [2] http://www.itasoftware.com/careers/puzzle_archive.html http://www.itasoftware.com/careers/puzzle_archive.html
- metageek 16y agoThe data is available (not cheaply) from an company called ATPCO, which is owned by the airlines. The airlines publish fares and rules through ATPCO, and ITA, SABRE, and many others fetch the data and run the computations. The computations are the hard part.
- throwa_way 16y agoSo, I have an interesting perspective to share. I'm graduating and might end up working for Kayak. I know at least part of their infrastructure depends on ITA, and while the existing contract goes until 2013 (I think), Google is obviously looking to compete. Kayak also recently filed for IPO. It's not like Google has never failed at any of its ventures, but to me it seems like it might be a tough competitor to everyone in this field, since a decent amount of traffic does come through search results. On the other hand, I think a majority of users come in directly, either through WOM or advertising or previous use. So, what is HN's thoughts on the situation for Kayak? Would it be a wrong move to accept a job there? The engineers seem smart, the work is interesting, the culture is sane and easygoing. What's the worst that could happen?
- dartland 16y agoKayak is a great company and this is a fascinating time to be in travel search. Go for it! A first job under Paul English (even a few layers beneath him) is a big win and Kayak's engineering reputation so great that you'll have plenty of opportunities down the road. So in summary: Worst scenario is pretty darn good for you!
- eklitzke 16y agoI wouldn't discount a company because they're competing with Google. There are a lot of companies that have competed with Google and have successfully out-competed them (likewise, there are a lot of companies that Google has acquired after failing to out-compete). You should look at Kayak on its own merits -- if the folks there are giving you a good offer, and you think the company has a good chance, then go for it.
- metageek 16y ago>while the existing contract goes until 2013 I believe the consent decree was reported to say that ITA has to renew existing contracts until at least 2016. So that's 5 years before Kayak might, theoretically, lose access to QPX. Don't worry about it; 5 years of a good job is a good run.
- brown9-2 16y ago2-5 years is a long time for Kayak to make alternate plans.
- hristov 16y agoThis is a good opportunity for someone to start a competitor of ITA. Google are only required to serve the ITA clients for five years. They will probably stop afterwards, they will want people to use their search engine to find flights. The only thing special about ITA is their excellent software. Apparently they get their raw data from another company that is willing to license the data to anyone. I am sure that there are still some old LISPers around that can write a similar software for a new company.
- MichaelSalib 16y agoApparently they get their raw data from another company that is willing to license the data to anyone. This is not true. In order to do what ITA does, you need schedules, fares, and availability data. You can buy the first two from clearinghouses if you have enough money. But the only way to get availability data is to either contract with airlines directly OR contract with your competitors. I am sure that there are still some old LISPers around that can write a similar software for a new company. That is just breathtakingly wrong.
- hristov 16y agoBreathtakingly wrong? Are you saying there aren't any old lispers left? Or that old lipers cannot write similar software? Before you say something is breathtakingly wrong you should read it carefully and try to understand it. This way you might also get some of the jokes that are currently flying over your head.
- MichaelSalib 16y agoThere are plenty of lispers left. I'm one of them. I also used to work at ITA. The bit that is breathtakingly wrong is the notion that you can just take some smart lisper, lock them in a room, and have them replicate what ITA did and have that be a viable business. See martincmartin's and my comments later in this thread to learn why that would be incredibly hard. With a smart enough team and enough time and money, you could certainly do it, but this is a project that would take many years and its unlikely anyone would be able to keep funding for that long. ITA had a much easier job: it was competing with very poorly designed systems that ran on mainframes and had very little CPU power available.
- martincmartin 16y agoBy the way, Paul Graham was an early fan of ITA software, mentioning them in "Great Hackers" http://paulgraham.com/gh.html http://paulgraham.com/gh.html And even has an interview with ITA's original programming genius, Carl de Marken http://paulgraham.com/carl.html http://paulgraham.com/carl.html
- SkyMarshal 16y agoI discovered those essays back in 2006 when I was working for an airline, and tried to get them to adapt ITA's technology for that reason. ITA was the best on the market at that time, and the e/web-marketing guys loved them too. But the bean counters deemed them too expensive and ruled them out. I left sometime after, was tired of trying to turn chicken shit into chicken salad (there were other issues involved, not just the data supply).
- WhatMatt3rs 16y agoHow much?? That's all that matters, that's all I care