As Google's plan for world domination - or at least online domination - continues apace, more and more digital companies are adding their voices to the anti-Google clarion call.
While these concerns will have little short-term impact on SEO, they are likely to cause problems for SEO agency further down the line.
The issue appears to be that Google wants to buy up everything - or at the very least launch a rival service if the object of its desire is not for sale. With this attitude consolidation in the online sector seems inevitable, and while this may simplify search engine marketing now, it is not going to last - particularly when Google has to battle against multi-million pound companies in industries it is not overly familiar with. The latest charge brought against the search engine giant is from the US travel industry. A number of online travel companies have joined forces and are attempting to challenge Google's takeover of ITA Software - which provides flight data to the travel industry.
Expedia, Kayak.com, Sabre Holdings and many more firms have formed the FairSearch.org coalition and are hoping to prevent Google from further strengthening its position as the top dog of online and specialist search. And the group isn't holding its punches, it is hoping to convince the US Justice Department to block the takeover. The firms concerned believe that Google will limit access to ITA's data - particularly as ITA software is responsible for almost two-thirds of all online flight transactions.
And it's not that travel industry that is up in arms about the takeover, Microsoft is also lobbying the Justice Department over deal. Microsoft's Bing search engine also relies on data from the ITA to power its travel searches. Skyscanner.net, one such airfare search engine, recently announced that its quarterly revenues had jumped to 3.5 million - highlighting that alternatives to Google can exist and be profitable. The firm has grown by 90 per cent year-on-year, but sites like Skyscanner.net could be forced out of the market if Google essentially buys up all the flight data.