Over the last two years, the process of shopping for travel products online has been transformed by the emergence of fourth-party travel search sites. These engines provide consumers with rates for airlines, hotels, and rental cars by searching leading third-party sites (such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity) as well as branded sites maintained by leading travel suppliers.

These travel search engines—TSEs—steer customers toward these purchases, most often through a direct link. However, most do not provide customer service since they are neither providing nor selling the products themselves.

Consumer Reports WebWatch found reasons to be concerned about this newest segment of the largest setor of online commerce: no TSE can capture all or even most of the available fares and rates; certain itineraries may not be filtered properly; and questions remain about how leading TSEs are compensated and whether or not this affects the unbiased listings of travel products.

This report examines how TSEs have affected the online travel landscape and provides a closer look at 11 of the leading sites.