Just as one world-class Seattle search conference wraps up, another is queuing up right behind. Hot on the heels of SMX Advanced, the competing Search Engine Strategies circuit will be hosting SES Travel, coming to Seattle July 26 & 27, 2007, Hosted by Elisabeth Osmeloski, editor of Search Engine Watch and adventure traveler, action sports enthusiast and travel search marketing specialist. The major players in the travel search arena will describe their services and opportunities for search marketers. [24×7]
Yapta Tracking Travel Fares
Yapta, the one-year old Seattle-based startup that alerts consumers to airline fare changes, is the latest in a growing number of websites aimed at helping consumers sort through the plethora of online travel options. Yapta rivals include booking services such as Expedia, airfare prediction websites like Farecast, and search sites like Sidestep.
The online travel business generated $80 billion worth of booking activity in the U.S. in 2006 according to PhoCusWright, an online travel research firm.
Yapta allows consumers to tag specific flights they want to track and the software will then send emails alerting shoppers of any fare changes for those flights.
MediaRoom is new Moniker for Microsoft IPTV
Microsoft unveiled on Sunday a new brand name for its Internet-based television platform, a service deployed by 10 companies including AT&T Inc. [24×7]
Microsoft Mediaroom, formerly known as Microsoft Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), will link with computers found in the home to allow users to access a PC hard drive to listen to music or view photos on a TV screen, the company said.
The television push aims to deliver TV over high-speed Internet networks and hopes the software will eventually open up the TV to a world of services already on the Web. [24×7]
