Google Flights Hits the Runway

Today Google quietly rolled out its new airfare search interface. It's unclear if Google Flights will take off or there's a Google Buzz (read: flop) in its engine.

At first glance Google Flights does have a lot of handy levers and buttons to help find and sort through available flights. When you're ready to buy a ticket, the site routes you to the individual airlines' websites. The only major US airline I noticed missing was Southwest (no surprise).

Here's the official Google promotion video:

Google Flights is launching in limited cities. But no surprise, San Franciso's on there.

This expansion into a new market space comes after Google made news just last week by purchasing restaurant review company Zagat in a seeming play for some of Yelp's market share.