yahoo to begin testing farechase travel search
Yahoo to begin testing FareChase travel search September 7, 2004 3:27pm ET (Reuters)
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Internet media company Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday said it would soon begin testing a travel price comparison search engine called FareChase as it further integrates Web search services into its offerings.
Available as a test to the general public as of Tuesday night, the site (http://yahoo.farechase.com) helps users find and buy flights on various airlines including America West , American Airlines , Delta Airlines and JetBlue . The site also offers hotel room and car rental bookings.
Yahoo said it would collect user feedback for further development of FareChase.
Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo last year spent $1 billion acquiring Web search technology to take on industry leader Google Inc. and future rival Microsoft Corp.
Yahoo has since been integrating its search technology in various sections of its site, including shopping and autos.
Upstart travel search sites such as SideStep and Mobissimo, which is also in testing, have recently sprung up to challenge established industry players like Orbitz , Priceline.com Inc. and InterActiveCorp's Expedia.com. End of Story
