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Google Flight Search

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Re: Google Flight Search

#111

Post by Permit »

Omnipresent wrote: post #103
cletus wrote: post #20

Internally, this has been around for a little while (disclaimer: I work for Google but not on anything related to this). What continues to impress me about Google is: 1. Just how quickly this was built (really, it was quick); and 2. Google wants you to use our services because they're compelling not because we don't give you any other choice (ie "Don't be evil"). Sure there are limits to what it currently does but I…

Its' tough for a company to keep impressing customers with everything that comes out of it. That is what google has been doing for a long time now. It really is impressive. As a developer, I just HOPE that one day google takes a service like this and makes a long blog post out of it describing and bisecting every aspect of the app and how it was built. I'm tired of clicking 'view source' and finding nothing but minim…

A tip I found the other day is that in Chrome you can actually de-obfuscate minimized Javascript and throw break points in there if you'd like.

In Chrome 12 you just right click the scripts pane in the developer tools and click "De-obfuscate Source".

In Chrome 13 you navigate to the scripts pane and click the "{}" icon. I honestly have no idea why they got rid of the right click functionality, but it's incredibly useful for me.

Re: Google Flight Search

#112

Post by redthrowaway »

raldi wrote: post #35
andrewtbham wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The really bad news for hipmunk will be when google integrates it into their search results.

Well, Adam has said in the past that only a small amount of Hipmunk's traffic comes from Google search results, so they don't really have that far to fall there. On the other hand, users are fickle and traffic can be a bit butterfly-effecty, so it's hard to predict the impact of something like this. That said, I don't expect Hipmunk to panic or take this lying down.

So who are you rooting for? In the hypothetical world where there is a winner and a loser (which travel search pretty much is, given its maturity), are you rooting for the home team or for the guys you worked with for so long?

Re: Google Flight Search

#113

Post by lukesandberg »

Omnipresent wrote: post #103
cletus wrote: post #20

Internally, this has been around for a little while (disclaimer: I work for Google but not on anything related to this). What continues to impress me about Google is: 1. Just how quickly this was built (really, it was quick); and 2. Google wants you to use our services because they're compelling not because we don't give you any other choice (ie "Don't be evil"). Sure there are limits to what it currently does but I…

Its' tough for a company to keep impressing customers with everything that comes out of it. That is what google has been doing for a long time now. It really is impressive. As a developer, I just HOPE that one day google takes a service like this and makes a long blog post out of it describing and bisecting every aspect of the app and how it was built. I'm tired of clicking 'view source' and finding nothing but minim…

I think that would create a sort of turtles all the way down situation. Google has so much internal proprietary technology infrastructure that it would be pretty difficult to provide a compelling explanation that doesn't have you wondering about how 10 other google services work (that you just learned about).

Disclaimer: I work for Google and this is how I feel every day :) it's a good feeling though!

Re: Google Flight Search

#114

Post by throwaway32 »

breck wrote: post #62
bradleyland wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be honest. Google wants us to use their services because the better they understand us, the better they can advertise to us. That's the profit model at Google. I don't begrudge them for it either. You've got to turn a profit if you want to keep the lights on. I don't mean any offense, but the "Don't be evil" mantra is growing a bit tired. Evil is a strong word, and "not being evil" is a pretty low bar, IMO.

I strongly disagree. Google wants us to use its services because at its core is a bunch of engineers that simply want to make the world better.

the first motivation of any for profit corporation, especially one as large and successful as Google, is profit. That is their entire reason for existence, don't fool yourself into believing otherwise.

Re: Google Flight Search

#115

Post by angryasian »

bradleyland wrote: post #31
cletus wrote: post #20

Internally, this has been around for a little while (disclaimer: I work for Google but not on anything related to this). What continues to impress me about Google is: 1. Just how quickly this was built (really, it was quick); and 2. Google wants you to use our services because they're compelling not because we don't give you any other choice (ie "Don't be evil"). Sure there are limits to what it currently does but I…

Let's be honest. Google wants us to use their services because the better they understand us, the better they can advertise to us. That's the profit model at Google. I don't begrudge them for it either. You've got to turn a profit if you want to keep the lights on. I don't mean any offense, but the "Don't be evil" mantra is growing a bit tired. Evil is a strong word, and "not being evil" is a pretty low bar, IMO.

the naievety is amusing. what site isn't using some sort of tracker to better serve you ads or market to you better using your information to sell you something.

Re: Google Flight Search

#117

Post by abraham »

Omnipresent wrote: post #103
cletus wrote: post #20

Internally, this has been around for a little while (disclaimer: I work for Google but not on anything related to this). What continues to impress me about Google is: 1. Just how quickly this was built (really, it was quick); and 2. Google wants you to use our services because they're compelling not because we don't give you any other choice (ie "Don't be evil"). Sure there are limits to what it currently does but I…

Its' tough for a company to keep impressing customers with everything that comes out of it. That is what google has been doing for a long time now. It really is impressive. As a developer, I just HOPE that one day google takes a service like this and makes a long blog post out of it describing and bisecting every aspect of the app and how it was built. I'm tired of clicking 'view source' and finding nothing but minim…

Many of the tools Google uses to build their products are open source. Flights source for example mentions GWT.

https://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

Re: Google Flight Search

#119

Post by ma2rten »

rhygar wrote: post #55
cletus wrote: post #20

Internally, this has been around for a little while (disclaimer: I work for Google but not on anything related to this). What continues to impress me about Google is: 1. Just how quickly this was built (really, it was quick); and 2. Google wants you to use our services because they're compelling not because we don't give you any other choice (ie "Don't be evil"). Sure there are limits to what it currently does but I…

It looks like it was built quickly. Why is there a giant search bar at the top of the screen? I came here to look for flights, not to search the web. Why is there a giant map at the top of the screen? I already know where I want to go. I don't need to look at a map to decide which destination I want. This part seems like more of a tech demo than anything. The whole UI looks like it was designed by an engineer. For ex…

Next to what other people have pointed out, you can also hide the map if you want to by clicking on the marker.

Re: Google Flight Search

#120

Post by mcdowall »

I had always imagined they would try to dabble in flight search but always assumed the sheer volume of their travel ppc clients would restrict it. Big revenue gamble.
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