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SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. plans to buy travel-technology company ITA Software Inc. in a $700 million deal that would enable the Internet-search leader to steer more of the airline reservations booked on the Web.
The all-cash acquisition announced Thursday signals Google’s intention to challenge flight-comparison services that are ITA customers, including Kayak, FareCompare, Hotwire and Microsoft Corp.’s Bing Travel.
The deal is likely to face a rigorous review by federal antitrust regulators.
