• Reuters, Wednesday, June 30, 2010 2:14 PM

Rumors that Google has its eye on ITA Software -- a provider of reservation and inventory management software -- has travel industry execs sweating, reports Reuters. ITA is a key source of airfare information for airlines, travel agents and other sites, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz and even Microsoft's Bing.

"The concerns are so real that Kayak offered to buy ITA to keep the company out of Google's hands," writes Reuters, citing an informed travel industry source. Kayak, says Reuters' source, was being backed by Expedia, which would have put up upwards of $200 million to make a deal happen. Google, however, is reportedly in exclusive talks with ITA. "They have dominance on the general search side," Robert Birge, Kayak's chief marketing officer, says of Google. "When you couple that with ITA's airline relationships there is reason to be concerned."

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