Skip to content
Search engines 5511dd3

Expedia Privileged Above All Others at Google

Rand Fishkin

Table of Contents

Rand Fishkin

Expedia Privileged Above All Others at Google

Google has been using "onebox" results for travel related searches since at least October of 2005. I'm forced to wonder if, during the entirety of that period, Google's been sending the default link to Expedia. For example:

I searched for Seattle to New York and got:
Seattle to New York Search
Then clicked the "Flights from Seattle/Tacoma, WA to New York, NY" - the most obvious of the links, which sent me to:
Expedia Results

This seems very un-Google-like... Am I the only one being served Expedia by default? I tried the searches in SF this morning and at home in Seattle tonight with the same results. More searches produced similar defaults:

The choices (Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz & Hotwire) represent the most popular travel booking sites, and there's already some inherent bias in serving those choices, but defaulting to Expedia seems like playing favorites...

The author's views are entirely their own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.


Back to Top

With Moz Pro, you have the tools you need to get SEO right — all in one place.

Read Next

What Is Google AI Mode? — Whiteboard Friday

What Is Google AI Mode? — Whiteboard Friday

Aug 01, 2025
What's New in AI Search? Whiteboard Friday Revisited With Garrett Sussman

What's New in AI Search? Whiteboard Friday Revisited With Garrett Sussman

Jul 11, 2025
How to Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with Relevance Engineering

How to Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with Relevance Engineering

Jun 24, 2025

Comments

Please keep your comments TAGFEE by following the community etiquette

Comments are closed. Got a burning question? Head to our Q&A section to start a new conversation.