Google releases new Travel Trends tool to find the best deals

Platform allows users to compare how prices change in different periods

Google has released new functionality to help travellers find the best deals when planning trips.

Travel Trends allows users to compare how prices change in different periods and when they are likely to find the lowest prices.

It allows users to analyse how a price compares with competitors as well as a company’s own historical price offering.

The new tool shops around for the cheapest deals and the destinations that have low prices during busy travel periods like the festive holiday season.

It will also flag up the most popular activities users searching for these destinations have saved in Google Maps.

On mobile Google Flights search results the search engine had added an assessment of whether the price being shown is low or high based on historical data.

The holiday price trends are available in Google Flights and Hotel Search and have been built by data visualisation project Google News Lab and visual journalism partner Polygraph.

The search giant also announced the launch of new ways to find deals via Explore Map in Google Flights.

This allows users to enter a flexible search both in terms of dates and specific locations and the search engine will offer a range of options highlighting the cities with the best deals.

For hotel searches Google has added a price insights tool that allows users to see how prices fluctuate over time for the dates of their trip.

Google said in a blog post: “Whether you’re spending time with your extended family or booking a holiday getaway, we’re focused on helping you make the best use of your hard earned money and vacation time for your yuletide travels and beyond.

“It may be August, but if you can start getting your holiday travel plans booked by mid-September, you’ll be giving yourself the best holiday gift of all—a little extra cash.”