• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 6, 2011

Marketers will have a unique opportunity to tie in location-based paid search ads when Google releases new real-time flight and travel tools being built on data from the $700 million acquisition of ITA Software.

Rumors have begun to surface on the features provided in the tools. While some might wonder if the tools will end up integrated into the social network Google+ or on the search engine, others focus on fair competition in the fast-moving search industry.

Not all take a positive view of the acquisition and tools. Along with Microsoft, Expedia and Kayak.com, companies such as Sabre Holdings and Farelogix formed the coalition FairSearch.org to persuade the Justice Department to block Google's deal to buy ITA, claiming it would give Google control over the software powering most of its closest rivals in travel search.

Google received approval in April to complete the acquisition and officially closed the deal, though the Department of Justice investigated the acquisition as creating a possible monopoly.

The search giant would like to provide more information than what's available in 10 blue links, including flight times and prices, wrote Google Senior Product Manager Andrew Silverman in a blog post. We've already been experimenting with similar results in different areas," he wrote.

In March, Google began showing hotel prices in Google Maps- information that make travel planning and budgeting easier for searchers, but also improves the quality of leads sent to travel Web sites and hotels. Marketers for local businesses could also capture those leads for paid search ads running down the right rail in queries.

In May, when the company launched the service, it made specific reference that it would not use ITA data until the Justice Department approved the sale. Query flights from Orange County to San Francisco and the search returns a list of options.

It turns out, consumers searching for flight schedules and prices will likely see the data tie into Google Maps, Google Places and other location-based information that links IP or GPS data to flights. Throw in Google Offers and consumers will have discount coupons on local deals.

As part of the Justice Department's conditions, Google will need to license ITA's search software to commercial airfare Web sites on reasonable terms and continue to fund future development of the company's InstaSearch product