Google has made another preemptive strike with its latest acquisition; ITA Software will soon be part of the Google family.  With a $700 million price tag, ITA remained in exclusive talks with Google, weeding out other travel search giants, including Kayak.  While Google looks to stay dominant over Bing as well, many in the travel and search industries are looking on the ITA acquisition as a move for too much control on Google’s part.

During the announcement this afternoon, Google reiterated that the acquisition deal was necessary for the deep level of integration required with ITA Software, particularly its QPX tools.  Starting in the business 14 years ago, ITA came about at a time when online travel search wasn’t even in its infancy.  The flight search and purchasing tool has remained focused on innovation the past decade or so, making it an appealing partner for Google.

So the question of dominance comes up quickly, as Google has specifically said (quite some time ago) that it had no intentions of providing travel search.  That’s changed in recent times, as search overall becomes more personalized, and in turn more niche.  Kayak in particular is likely to be peeved about the ITA acquisition, as it was hopeful of buying the company itself.  Backed by Expedia, Kayak would have been able to take another giant leap forward in its positioning, especially as it expands its mobile offerings.

TripAdvisor CEO  Stephen Kaufer was less than thrilled about Google’s potential to rule the travel search market, even before Google’s acquisition of ITA was announced.  Kaufer does, however, go on to say that Google doesn’t always have the Midas touch.  Justbecause Google does it, doesn’t mean it will be a game-changer.

Google would have you beleive this, too.  The company has emphasized that its acquisition of ITA will not make Google directly involved with ticket purchases, and ITA will still provide its services to other search engines and travel businesses.  The ideal is to drive more business to the travel industry overall, hinting at an advertising angle on Google’s part.

That’s the most likely goal for Google, as it already has a number of products and services that can be easily incorporated into a consumer or enterprise-facing app.  From Maps to Docs, Google already has a good footing for adding value around ITA Software data.  Whatever this deep integration that Google requires from ITA, it’s sure to be monetizable.  Continuing to nip at Microsoft Bing’s growing initiatives to create a personalized search hub is also a driving factor behind Google’s decision.

The deal will also mean more opportunities for developers.  Aside from Google Apps, there’s that whole Android platform thing.  Google plans on incorporating highly personalized search tools around ITA’s data, with very specific parameters for what consumers will find with its new service. That means location-awareness (something Expedia is also dabbling in), time restrictions, pre-determined personal preferences, social tools and more.