A new meta-search engine launched - hotelicopter.com

Here comes a new meta-search engine - hotelicopter.com. It compares hotel prices on various OTA, just like other meta-search-engine does. I have walked through the site and below are my finding. Something different : 1. the map-based search is more user friendly where you can focus on a area by dragging the box. 2. it connects to hotels directly by supporting either online booking or make a phone call @ hotel's number 3. it use virus marketing to catch attention ( http://aprilfools.hotelicopter.com/ ) I believe there will be more meta-search engine coming out in the future. But the trend is quite clear: 1. It's getting harder to have any technology break-through on the price-comparision features. Most will leverage on existing platform or technology rather than connecting to OTA directly. 2. Rich client features are more important to differenciate among existing (more classic) market players. 3. Bypassing OTA and link hotels to consumer directly. Overall, there are less rooms (both profit and technology) to play with in meta search engine sector.