Flywheel news | September 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. Your complete 10-step guide to 2026 marketing & budget success

As 2026 approaches, hotel digital marketing is rapidly evolving, driven by AI, economic shifts, and new consumer behaviors. Staying ahead requires strategic planning, smart budgeting, and targeting channels that maximize direct bookings. Explore our latest eBook to discover practical tips for aligning your digital investments with your property’s goals as you start planning for the 2026 marketing season. Download here.

2. Your guide to AI SEO for hotels

It’s truly an exciting time to be in digital marketing with the rise of LLMs leading to incredible shifts in consumer behavior when it comes to online searching. As our understanding of what drives visibility on AI search engines continues to evolve, so will our services at GCommerce as to best support our hotel clients and their goals. In this article we’ll breakdown everything we know about so far about gaining visibility on AI search engines and how your hotel can maximize for success. Read more here.

3. Up your email game this cyber season

Cyber season is drawing near and hoteliers have a major opportunity to drive direct bookings and build momentum as they head into the new year. Based on two years of cumulative data from the marketing team at GCommerce and emerging trends for 2026 we’ve devised our top 8 strategies for winning at email marketing this Black Friday and Cyber Monday season. Read more.

4. [Webinar recording] Google AI Mode uncovered: The future of hotel bookings

Google’s new AI Mode is transforming how travelers research, discover, and book hotels. With its conversational approach and preference-based suggestions, AI Mode is shifting how consumers search and find hotels. Our team conducted an in-depth study of Google’s AI Mode in action, testing branded and non-branded hotel searches across major U.S. markets. The findings? Hotels that don’t proactively focus on building their brand and focus on optimization risk losing valuable visibility. Watch the full webinar.

5. How to drive direct bookings through metasearch advertising

In today’s competitive hospitality landscape, reducing dependency on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) is a top priority for many hotels. OTAs may offer visibility, but the commissions can cut deeply into your revenue. Hotel metasearch advertising presents a compelling opportunity to reclaim control, increase direct bookings, and strengthen your bottom line. Learn how your hotel can leverage metasearch to drive direct bookings while minimizing reliance on OTAs. Read here.

6. OpenAI is staffing up to turn ChatGPT into an ad platform

Recent news found that OpenAi is hiring a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer to help develop tools for ad platform integration, something that doesn’t come as a shock to most search marketers. Reports show that OpenAI is hoping to monetize free users via ChatGPT ads by 2026, which means advertisers will soon have access to a brand new platform with over 700 million weekly users (and is only slated to go up!). GCommerce will be closely watching for updates and access to the new ad platform once it becomes available. Read more.

7. Google modifies search results parameter, affecting SEO tools

A new reports shows that Google appears to have disabled or is testing the removal of the &num=100 URL parameter that shows 100 results per page. What does this change mean for marketers? So far we’ve seen impressions in search console drop across all accounts, mainly for desktop, which disrupts SEO and rank tracking tools that once relied on this function. Some theories suggest third party scrapers were injecting artificial data in Google and now reporting is coming back to actualized levels, but despite the guesses and speculations, Google’s intent remains unclear. GCommerce will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to our clients as we know more. Read more here.

Flywheel news | August 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. AI in hospitality marketing

In our work at GCommerce, AI has evolved from being an unknown curiosity to being the single most discussed topic with our clients. Check in with the Founder of GCommerce, Scott van Hartesvelt, as he explores the current state of AI in hospitality marketing and showcases proven tactics for maximizing performance, why LLMs have introduced new barriers to insight, and what the future holds for AI in our industry. Read the full article.

2. Google is testing changes to AI Mode to encourage clicks

Recently Google’s Robby Stein announced that over the coming weeks Google will be testing a number of changes to AI Mode primarily to encourage clicks to publishers. These changes will include embedding link carousels on both desktop and soon mobile, more inline links, and web guide to be expanded in the All tab and not just the web tab. As these changes start being released in the wild GCommerce will continue to evolve and update our strategies for increasing our client’s visibility within AI Mode. Learn more.

3. [Webinar recording] Breaking the ROAS trap: Premium hotel market share with smarter marketing

Thank you to Affixify for hosting Chris Jackson, Principal of GCommerce Solutions, on the Industry Chats to discuss “Breaking the ROAS Trap.” In this insightful conversation, Chris dives into the critical strategies hotels and resorts should prioritize beyond just ROAS. Understand if your property is focusing on the right signals that we’re currently seeing throughout the industry. Get the full insights here.

4. The ultimate hotel guide to seasonal paid search marketing

Seasonal paid search marketing is a great way to meet your hotel’s shifting objectives throughout the year. However, it can also be somewhat complex, making it tricky to ensure the best outcome for campaign performance through seasonal marketing. This article outlines how to re-center your paid search efforts around demand drivers, your personal goals, and your guest booking behaviors. Read more.

5. How GCommerce powers Google ads using AI

As conversations around AI continue to grow louder, we are continually asked “How are we powering Google Ads campaigns with AI?” The truth of the matter is that we’ve been leveraging AI for years in Google Ads campaigns through bid strategies, audience targeting, campaign types, and more! While generative AI is not new, Google continues to grow and evolve their AI tools as does GCommerce with our marketing strategies. Learn more here.

6. [Webinar recording] Maximize sales on Black Friday & Cyber Monday: 2025 strategies revealed

Get ahead of the competition with data-driven insights and proven strategies for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just getting started, this session will equip you with what you need to win big. Get the inside scoop on what GCommerce learned during the 2024 cyber season and then learn what out top data-driven strategies for this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday season entail. Watch the webinar here.

Flywheel news | July 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. Google Hotel Ads and AI search results

As Google introduces more AI-based features into their search results, Google Hotel Ads continue to have an impact. Hotel metasearch has always been an important part of any hotel’s marketing strategy, but the inclusion of Google Hotel Ads within AI search results brings this importance to a whole new level. Learn more about how GCommerce recommends utilizing Goolge Hotel Ads to it’s fullest potential. Read here.

2. Why are reviews and ratings important for hotel metasearch? 

Reviews and ratings are pivotal in determining a hotel's reputation and visibility on hotel metasearch platforms like Google and TripAdvisor. Because hotel metasearch is positioned at the bottom of the sales funnel, Google heavily relies on user reviews when assessing reputation and user experience. Read more + discover best practices for optimizing your reviews and ratings here.

3. The 5 key AI Search vs Traditional Search differences

AI search has become top-of-mind for digital marketers as of late, especially when it comes to the differences that users can expect for AI search results vs traditional search engine marketing. While some things remain the same, a number of key differences stand out when it comes to overall search behavior, query handling, optimization targeting, authority and popularity signals, and results presentation. When it comes to optimizing for AI search GCommerce is as the forefront for developing new optimization tactics and strategies. Read more here.

4. Shorter video ads on Facebook get more replays via looping

A recent explanation from Meta officials provided more benefit to utilizing shorter videos in ads on the Facebook platform. The released statement shared that videos shorter than 30 seconds were more likely to continually replay on a 90-second loop if left unchecked by the user. Even shorter videos would automatically replay even more. While this largely depends on user behaviors, it does leave room for enhanced brand awareness and could be an integral part of your hotel’s video strategy on the social media platform. Learn more. 

5. More data showing how ChatGPT is moving away from Bing to Google for citations

Leading marketing strategists have been following citation results from ChatGPT over the past several months and have noted big differences from April to July 2025, notably that alignment with with Google has surged while dipping for Bing. What could this all mean? Experts hypothesize that either ChatGPT is quietly deploying their own proprietary index or gearing up to make Google their primary search partner. Whatever the conclusion is, GCommerce will be keeping tabs on the update. Learn more here.

6. Study: Google AI Mode shows 91% URL change across repeat searches

A recent study is showing that Google’s AI Mode is highly volatile when it comes to showcasing consistent sources and URLs across repeat searches for the same queries. The system frequently pulls in different pages and shows low overlap when compared with AI Overviews and traditional organic results, suggesting they all operate on different logic. While this presents new challenges for marketers, it also opens up opportunity to create more exposure as AI Mode appears to refresh its citations more frequently. Read more about that here.

Flywheel news | June 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. Instagram to open its content to search engine crawlers

Big news for Instagram users and content creators–as of July 10th the platform will be opening up its content to be crawled by search engines with explicit user permission. Users will be prompted with a pop-up in the platform to either allow crawling or to decline. This means that pictures and stories could potentially show up in AI Mode and ChatGPT as well, expanding the reach of your organic social media accounts. Previous to this update Instagram required search engines to not index its content via robots.txt and noindex tags, which functioned more as a request vs absolute technical block. This update now puts control back in the user’s hands. Learn more.

2. YouTube makes influencer marketing available with Google Ads

Recently at a session during Cannes Lions 2025, YouTube announced their latest tool, aptly named Open Call, within the Creator Partnerships Hub. This feature will allow advertisers to post campaign briefs and receive pitches from YouTube creators which would run as selected content within Google Ads. This latest tool aims to make influencer marketing even more attainable and could be a scalable way for hotels to broaden their reach across YouTube and partners without having to seek out specific content creators. Read more here.

3. [Webinar recording] Understanding the hotel metasearch funnel

If you missed our webinar earlier in June about the complexities of the hotel metasearch funnel, take a peek at our recorded webinar for a deep dive into three pivotal metrics that are instrumental in optimizing your hotel metasearch funnel: impression share, click-through-rate, and conversion rate. Watch now.

4. Google rolls out June 2025 core update

Google has officially confirmed they are rolling out their June 2025 core update and that it could take up to three weeks for completion. Core updates usually involve broad changes to Google’s ranking system and are designed to improve their ability to surface high-quality content in search. Core updates can affect rankings across all industries and topics. The search marketing specialists at GCommerce will be closely monitoring campaign performance throughout July and logging any major changes observed during rollout. Read more here.

5. YouTube tests AI features to improve search and discovery

YouTube has announced they are rolling out two AI-driven features designed to enhance content discovery and deepen user engagement. The first tool is the AI search results carousel (for premium users only) which surfaces curated video suggestions with descriptions based on searches in the platform. The second feature is YouTube’s conversational AI tool which is now being tested with non-premium users. This tool allows users to ask questions about the content they are viewing, receive recommendations, and quiz themselves on education videos. Videos related to shopping, travel, and local activities are said to have the biggest impact which could be big news for hotels utilizing YouTube channels for content. Learn more.

6. [Webinar recording] Beyond the boom: smart marketing strategies for slowing travel demand

Last week GCommerce joined forces with our partners at The Hotels Network in a webinar to showcase how hotels can grow direct bookings in today’s competitive marketing landscape. In this webinar we reveal how one of our mutual clients, the Boston Harbor Hotel, successfully adapted their digital strategy to accommodate the decreased demand for travel after the post-pandemic boom. Watch now. 

Flywheel news | May 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. Google enhancing PMax to offer more insights into channel performance

Big news for our PMax campaigns at GCommerce! Google announced they are upgrading the campaigns with new reporting tools to offer deeper visibility into performance, search terms, and creative assets. This includes new channel-level reporting, keyword-level reporting for search terms, and a look at creative asset metrics such as impressions and clicks. This comes after a big demand for transparency within the ad type, which will allow for more informed decision making with our clients’ PMax campaigns moving forward. Learn more here!

2. Google Search Console tests add annotation in performance reports

Recent news has found that Google is testing adding the ability to insert your own annotations into Google Search Console performance reports after years of demand from SEOs. While this feature is not live in all accounts, the feature would allow SEOs to more easily keep track of major changes and events to search console data for historical context. GCommerce will keep track of the rollout for future updates to our processes. Full review here.

3. Summer travel trends 2025: road trips, family time, and why closer is better

Hot off the press from the GCommerce blog, take a look at some of the top consumer travel trends as we head into this summer! From road trips to local travel and family experiences learn how your hotel can level up to bring in more summer business! Read the full article here.

4. #OverIt: why hashtags aren’t what they used to be

Have you heard the news? Once iconic and pertinent to social media success, hashtags are no longer pulling in the weight they once did. Instagram no longer allows user to follow hashtags and now social media platforms prioritize user behavior and AI-driven content over them. Discover how to remain relevant with your organic strategy and the correct way to use hashtags in this ever-evolving social climate. Read more here.

5. Google Marketing Live 2025: key takeaways from the GCommerce marketing team

Every year we eagerly await Google’s annual event that showcases all the news updates for Google advertising. This year Google showcased an astounding 30 new product updates and innovations leaning heavily on the theme of AI agents for automation and assistants. Hear from the experts are GCommerce and their top takeaways from Google Marketing Live 2025. Learn more.

6. Key takeaways from Google I/O 2025 for hotel marketers

May is a busy month for Google! Along with Google Marketing Live, Google I/O also took place and announced an incredible list of updates for our Google products focused on organic search marketing. Heavily focused on AI abilities such as AI Mode, Google Lens, and more the updates promise a big wave of user capabilities and personalization like never before. Read some of our top takeaways here.

7. What is CTV advertising and why does your hotel need it?

Have you ever been curious about what CTV (Connected TV) advertising is or how your hotel can successfully implement this engaging and emotionally driven ad type? Look no further and enjoy our comprehensive overview on how Connected TV ads can help drive brand awareness for your hotel and promote connectivity with your audience. Interested in what that looks like in the wild? We’ve also included a real life example from one of our clients. Learn more!

Flywheel news | April 2025 hotel digital marketing news | GCommerce

1. Exciting new Connected TV updates from Google Marketing Platform 

Google Marketing Platform has recently added a host of new innovations and features to their Connected TV (CTV) offering aimed at driving more efficient, measurable, and personalized campaigns. The new features include a Netflix Ads integration allowing campaigns to reach a premium audience with over 200 million subscribers, cross-media reach reports via Comscore data, and DV360 certification to feature biddable deals for live sports using Disney’s Ad Server. If you’re interested in leveraging CTV for your hotel, the experts at GCommerce are here to help. Learn more here.

2. Best practices for responding to your Google reviews

Responding to your Google reviews is a critical piece of your marketing strategy and is proven to improve your hotel’s visibility and overall guest relationship. Learn more from the experts at GCommerce for tips and tricks when responding to reviews. Read more.

3. Lighthouse acquires The Hotels Network

On April 16, 2025 it was announced that Lighthouse, a leading commercial platform for travel and hospitality providing real-time hotel and short-term rental data within one platform, will be acquiring The Hotels Network, known for its personalization technology that helps hotels drive more direct bookings and overall channel growth. Congratulations to our friends at The Hotels Network on this exciting new venture. Learn more about the acquisition here.

4. Google expands AI Overviews with new improvements and AI Mode

AI overviews are used by over a billion people and now Google Search is advancing and improving the user experience even more. Gemini 2.0 for AI Overviews in the U.S. will help with harder questions including coding, advanced math, and multimodal queries. Google also launched AI Mode, an early experiment in Labs that expands what AI Overviews can do with more advanced reasoning and follow-up questions. The search team at GCommerce is currently planning a study to experiment with this new Search Labs feature and will be providing more insights in the coming weeks. Read more about expanded AI Overviews.

5. Google Ads rolling out age exclusions for PMax campaigns

In January Google announced that age exclusions would be coming for PMax campaigns and now some users are seeing it in the Google Ads advertiser console. This new feature allows advertisers to exclude certain age brackets in their campaign settings whereas before demographic exclusions were only offered in one range. This now gives our team more control over who sees our clients’ ads and where our marketing dollars are directed. Learn more here.

6. Google now subscribing to your emails for search listing content

As of April 3, 2025 Google has automatically opted you into Marketing content usage. In a nutshell, Google is now subscribed to your marketing emails to collect content, similar to how it uses your website for content, to then display on Google Search, Shopping, and Maps listings. You are able to opt out of this inclusion at any time in Merchant Center settings. While this feature is still relatively new and available for ecommerce advertisers with Merchant Center accounts, GCommerce remains interested to see if or when this could expand to hotel-focused campaigns. Read more about the content usage.

7. Threads Ads now expanded to all meta advertisers

Initial tests of ads on Threads were launched in January of this year, and now has become available to all advertisers despite intense pushback from platform users. This update will be listed as another available placement within the Meta Ads Manager platform that can be turned on or off. While there isn’t much data on the success of ads on the Threads platform, many users are threatening to leave if it turns into a similar situation with other social media platforms. The specialists at GCommerce are looking to start analyzing data from the Threads placement in the coming weeks to see how and if this opportunity should be maximized. More about ads on Threads here.