Google Hotel Ads, The OTA Disrupter Your Hotel Needs Now

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August 31, 2021 by

Back in July, we shed light on how direct bookings can be more profitable than OTA bookings for hotels, even when you factor in media costs. The development and execution of a superior direct booking strategy for our hotel clients has always been GCommerce’s mission. Why? Because we were born out of a hotel management company which means we’ve always tried to focus on what’s best for the hotel. It’s in our DNA.

Now, what if I told you that there was a risk free direct booking channel that can drive an average of 8% of total web bookings at an average 5% conversion rate? One that only incurs a cost when it produces a stay that actually occurs, and is less than a commission payment to an OTA. Would you be interested? Is there anything that would hold you back from giving it a try?

Through the pandemic, Metasearch has evolved to not only be a top producing revenue channel to drive direct bookings, it has shape-shifted to provide hotels with a risk free billing option during a period of uncertainty in the travel industry that saw record cancellation rates. It is a powerful addition to the arsenal in the fight against hotel booking contributions coming from OTAs. Why is that important?

While some hotels have been slower to adopt this channel into their direct booking strategy, there really is no better time to try it. The OTA’s have been owning this ad space since its inception because they know its power and profitability. OTAs like Expedia have even been fighting Google with government lobbyists because they feared the impact this evolution of Google’s travel vertical would have on their business model. Google has changed their travel planner and hotel search over the years with the specific purpose of funneling users to the Google travel planner and hotel search tools.

Screen shot showing Google Map results for home prices

They have pushed the visibility of Google Hotel Ads into the knowledge panel, into the SERP and as the ultimate call to action in Google hotel search. 

Google results showing hotels near Park City, Utah

And they have handed hotels the keys to driving more direct bookings and relying less on the OTAs. How? Because Google has become the OTA. Consumers no longer have to navigate to Expedia or Booking.com to comparison shop. They can do it directly within Google.

Now ask yourself again. What is stopping me from distributing my hotel’s inventory and rates to Google Hotel Ads and other metasearch channels? Here’s why your hotel should be advertising with direct inventory and rates on Google Hotel Ads and metasearch:

  • You can advertise risk free with a pay-per-stay contract type, paying only when a stay is consumed
  • Google has invested time and resources to increase visibility to this channel across its entire ecosystem. More visibility = more awareness, traffic and bookings
  • The OTAs are already there, eating up your hotel’s bookings and sending you the robust commission bill
  • Google Hotel Ads is owning the hotel comparison shopping game and giving hotels the chance to drive the bookings directly through their own website
  • It can increase your hotel’s profitability by helping to drive more direct bookings - an average of 8% of total web bookings and an average conversion rate of 5%
  • More direct bookings helps you own the guest data and better prepare your business for a world without 3rd party cookie tracking

Can you still think of a good reason not to advertise your hotel’s direct rates and inventory feed to Google Hotel Ads and other metasearch channels? Probably not. Now that you’re ready to focus on this channel, how can you make sure it’s successful?

  1. Make sure you map the best available rate found on your booking engine landing page to Google Hotel Ads and other metasearch channels including TripAdvisor, Bing Hotel Ads, Trivago and Kayak. Not only is the price accuracy of your feed to what’s on your landing page important for ranking, it ensures you are sending the lowest rate possible to help with parity.
  2. Ensure your rates are the lowest shown on metasearch channels (rate parity) - OTAs are constantly trying to undercut to ensure they are the lowest displayed. Why? Because the lowest rate wins the booking. Make sure you use a rate parity monitoring tool to assist you with your revenue management. We recommend The Hotel Network’s metasearch disparity tool for the most accurate insights.
  3. Test the inclusion of different marketing call-outs within Google Hotel Ads such as any direct booking incentives, competitive advantages and flexible cancellation policies
  4. Monitor and adjust bids towards the best performing segments including device type, days to arrival, check-in date and more. Google has also just announced the addition of bid adjustments by check-in date to help with exposure towards specific time periods.
  5. Focus on Google Hotel Ads but also look at testing different metasearch channels. While Google Hotel Ads has the lion’s share of metasearch advertising’s click and booking volume, try testing other channels like TripAdvisor, Bing Hotel Ads, Kayak and Trivago for additional exposure and booking opportunities.

Now, how can you get started running metasearch ads, including Google Hotel Ads, for your hotel? First, you’ll need to connect your rates and inventory feed through a connectivity partner. GCommerce offers a full service hotel metasearch advertising solution that can facilitate this for you and handle all management of metasearch campaigns. Have more questions or are looking for additional information? Please reach out to one of the hotel marketing experts at GCommerce for more information.

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Google Hotel CPC & Metasearch for Hotels

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August 16, 2017 by

In the world of online travel first came the search engines, then the OTAs (online travel agencies, i.e. Expedia) and most recently the metasearch engine websites such as Trivago and Kayak. Hoteliers are forced to evolve and utilize new online channels to be visible and compete effectively online.  But what is the most effective way for hotels to use these channels? Since the launch of Google’s Hotel CPC program, hotels must now use a combination of search engine and metasearch campaigns just to be visible throughout Google’s search engine features. What are you doing to ensure your hotel is visible and driving qualified traffic across these online channels? Let’s break down what metasearch for hotels means, where it fits into your online marketing strategy and how hotels can be successful using this marketing channel.

WHAT IS HOTEL METASEARCH?

Unlike OTAs such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity, metasearch engines don’t hold their own inventory of hotel rooms. Instead, metasearch engines pull data from other search engines to provide information to users about rates and availability. The metasearch engine will then direct the user from their website to the original source (i.e. OTA or hotel website) to book their stay. The metasearch engine will then receive a referral commission or CPC charge for sending the traffic to the hotel or airline website.

Examples of Hotel Metasearch include:

  • Kayak
  • Trivago
  • Google’s Hotel Ads
  • TripAdvisor
  • Hipmunk
  • Skyscanner

WHY SHOULD HOTELS PARTICIPATE IN METASEARCH

  • IT IS IMPORTANT FOR HOTELS TO BE VISIBLE WHERE CONSUMERS ARE RESEARCHING, FROM THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL TO THE BOTTOM. This requires a strategy that incorporates multiple channels including search engines, metasearch engines, OTAs, social media and more.  Metasearch should be viewed as another tool to gain exposure to new customers and drive conversions. Just like all tools in your hotel’s marketing strategy it should be tested and analyzed to assess if it is successful in achieving your business goals and objectives.
  • TO COMPETE WITH OTAS AND THEIR COMPETITION FOR DIRECT BOOKINGS. Similar to paid search campaigns, metasearch campaigns allow hotel’s to compete with OTAs for ad space that is critical in driving direct bookings through the hotel website. If you’re not present with ads in metasearch you are losing out on bookings to competition and OTAs. If the consumer books through an OTA you’re losing out on critical information needed to market to those guests in the future and increase the lifetime value of the guest.
  • VOICE ASSISTANT TRAVEL SEARCH IS CURRENTLY POWERED BY METASEARCH. Voice assistants, such as Alexa and Google Home, are the newest channel for search powered exposure to consumers. Currently, these devices are partnering with metasearch engines such as Kayak to provide hotel, flight and travel search results. The metasearch and OTAs are going to be the first to provide a way to enter this channel. My prediction is that if you want your hotel to be present in these voice assistant searches you’ll need to be visible through metasearch channels.
  • LOCAL SEARCH IS MOVING TOWARDS A PAY-TO-PLAY MODEL. Google is continuing to monetize search results, the most recent changes being seen in local search within the Google My Business listings and map pack. Just a couple weeks ago Google changed their map results to show rate cards directly on the map, as shown below:



Here’s another view, taken directly from inside Google Maps:

Screen-Shot-2017-08-15-at-3.52.07-PM

In the above screenshot, you can see two different ways Google’s monetized the local search results for hotels. The first is the ads on the far right for Cambria Hotel and AC Hotel. These ads are managed directly through Google Adwords paid search campaigns. The second is shown in the details view for Omni Chicago Hotel, which are the OTA channels displaying with rates – these ads are populated through Google’s Hotel CPC program. Google’s Hotel CPC program is a form of metasearch and managed separately from Google Adwords paid search campaigns.

HOW CAN HOTELS PARTICIPATE IN METASEARCH?

Hotels can participate in Metasearch directly through their Google Hotel partner booking engine providers. The Google Hotel program requires a direct API with rates and inventory feed directly from booking engine to Google. Google Hotel CPC partners include Synxis, TravelClick and more. You can find a full list here. Pricing through your booking engine is typically set up on a commission based model that charges you a percentage based on revenue from reservations driven by the campaigns. Some also charge CPCs on top of this commission. Review contracts with your booking engine partner to ensure it will be a profitable model for your hotel.

HOW CAN HOTELS BE SUCCESSFUL WITH METASEARCH?

Just like all other marketing channels and campaigns, it is important to closely monitor key performance indicators from your metasearch campaigns.

  • Work closely with your booking engine partner to ensure you are receiving reports that detail clicks, CPCs, costs, reservations and revenue attributed to these campaigns.
  • Monitor KPIs through each metasearch channel – which channels are performing best? Which ones are costing you money? Not all metasearch channels will perform the same. Make sure your booking engine partner that is managing your campaigns are shifting budget to the ones that work best for your hotel.

Have a question? We can help.

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