Why are reviews and ratings important for hotel metasearch?

July 28, 2025 by Jael Dugdale

Reviews and ratings are pivotal in determining a hotel's reputation and visibility on hotel metasearch platforms like Google and TripAdvisor. These elements are key indicators for search engines and potential customers, influencing rankings and booking decisions. Here's why they matter:

The bottom of the sales funnel

Hotel metasearch is positioned at the bottom of the sales funnel, meaning it’s often the final step before a guest makes a booking. At this stage, potential customers rely on reviews and ratings to decide. For many, this is the last chance to evaluate a property before committing. Ensuring that your hotel is presented in the best possible light is crucial for securing these bookings.

The foundation of trust and transparency

Search engines like Google weigh reviews as critical metrics to assess a property's reputation and user experience. While some platforms prioritize these metrics more than others, all incorporate reviews into their ranking algorithms. This makes them essential for every property listed on hotel metasearch platforms.

For customers: Reviews on platforms like Google Business Profile (GMB), TripAdvisor, or others provide consumers with valuable insights into what they can expect from a hotel. Guests can identify highlights such as excellent service, exceptional food and beverage offerings, personalized experiences, or prime locations. Conversely, reviews also expose areas that need improvement, such as cleanliness, front desk efficiency, or the condition of facilities.
For search engines: Google prioritizes recent reviews, giving greater weight to feedback from the last 6-12 months over older reviews. This constant influx of reviews impacts not only organic search rankings but also paid search and metasearch performance.
For AI search (i.e. ChatGPT, AI Mode) - LLM’s consume and source answer summaries from structured sources, including reviews. Continue to focus on getting more guest reviews and addressing operational issues commonly called out to improve review ratings and have a positive impact on your hotel’s visibility in AI search platforms.
Guest interaction matters: How a property responds to reviews—whether positive or negative—plays a significant role in how it is perceived. Responding thoughtfully demonstrates that the property values guest feedback and is committed to resolving issues, further boosting credibility.

Platform-specific policies: While Google Business Profile allows some reviews to be flagged and potentially removed—such as those left mistakenly or unfairly—TripAdvisor does not permit review removal, regardless of circumstances. This reinforces the need to actively manage your property’s reputation and address guest concerns promptly.

The snapshot of satisfaction

Ratings, often displayed as a numerical score (e.g., 4.5 out of 5), are just as critical as detailed written reviews. A higher rating signals better guest satisfaction and directly influences booking decisions.

Attracting guests: Properties with higher ratings are more likely to secure bookings than lower-rated competitors. Ratings provide a quick, visual summary of guest experiences, offering an immediate impression of quality.
Customer loyalty: Higher ratings suggest positive guest interactions, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Platforms and their unique metrics

While Google may incorporate additional data points beyond reviews and ratings, TripAdvisor relies heavily on these factors to determine property rankings. This underscores the importance of maintaining accurate and appealing profiles across all platforms.

Best practices for optimizing reviews and ratings

Keep listings accurate: Ensure your property details—address, phone number, and images—are correct and up-to-date across all platforms. High-resolution, professional photos alongside authentic guest-generated images contribute to trustworthiness.
Manage reviews proactively:
- Address guest feedback promptly, whether positive or negative.
- Flag inappropriate reviews on Google if they were left mistakenly, pertain to a different property, or reflect outdated experiences (e.g., pre-renovation or ownership change). Note that TripAdvisor does not allow reviews to be removed under any circumstances.
Optimize hotel metasearch campaigns: Provide accurate data, including room rates and availability, to ensure your property performs well in metasearch auctions.

In the competitive hotel metasearch landscape, reviews and ratings are more than just numbers—they are powerful tools that reflect the quality of your property and influence its online visibility. At the bottom of the sales funnel, metasearch platforms are where guests make their final booking decisions.

By managing reviews and ratings effectively, keeping your listings current, and presenting your property in the best light, you can attract more bookings and succeed in your hotel metasearch campaigns.

Want to take your hotel metasearch to the next level? Contact the experts at Metadesk today.

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

July 16, 2025 by Erin Fischer

In the rapidly evolving landscape of hotel digital marketing, Connected TV (CTV) advertising has emerged as a powerful tool for hotels aiming to enhance their brand visibility and attract discerning travelers. By leveraging CTV ads, hotels can deliver personalized, engaging content directly to potential guests through internet-connected television devices–think about the ads you see while streaming Hulu or other ad-powered streaming platforms.

So - what are some of the benefits of using CTV ads for hotels, and how do you know if it’s right for your brand? Let’s get into it.

What is Connected TV (CTV) advertising for hotels?

To start with the basics, Connected TV simply refers to television sets that are connected to the internet, enabling viewers to stream content via applications on smart TVs, gaming consoles, or external devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. Unlike traditional linear TV, where content is broadcast according to a set schedule, CTV allows users to access on-demand content at their convenience. This shift in viewing habits has opened new avenues for advertisers to reach audiences in a more targeted and interactive manner than ever before.

Benefits of CTV advertising for hotels

Running CTV ads programmatically will require the use of a Demand-Side Platform, or DSP for short. DSPs are software systems that allow advertisers to buy and manage automated digital ad inventory across multiple exchanges through real-time bidding. While there are many DSPs out there that specialize in CTV, we partner with Google Marketing Platform to run CTV ads through Display & Video 360. With this outlet, we are able to offer a variety of benefits for hoteliers when it comes to running CTV ads through the vast available inventory options.

1. Precise audience targeting

CTV advertising enables hotels to utilize advanced data analytics to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. This precision ensures that marketing messages reach potential guests who are most likely to be interested in the hotel's offerings, thereby increasing the efficiency of advertising spending. For instance, we can tailor your ads towards inventory more specific to your brand, whether it be on specific streaming channels or utilizing specific household incomes and buying behaviors. Hotels using specific travel-intent data through Adara or leveraging their comp set’s data with Azira will also enjoy additional targeting layers to hit even more precise and qualified audiences.

2. Enhanced engagement through visual storytelling

CTV advertising provides a dynamic platform for hotels to weave compelling narratives and showcase their unique offerings through captivating visuals that resonate with viewers on a visceral level. It’s important to note that your visual assets are designed with commercial aspects in mind; think professionally shot and edited. By immersing guests in a visual journey, hotels can evoke emotions, stir desires, and inspire travelers to explore more on their adventures.

3. Integration with your hotel’s digital marketing strategies

CTV advertising can be seamlessly integrated with your hotel's broader digital marketing efforts, creating a cohesive brand presence. For example, viewers who see a CTV hotel ad can be retargeted with related content through programmatic display banner ads, reinforcing the message and guiding potential guests through the booking funnel.

4. Access to premium TV content platforms

Recent CTV technology advancements have expanded opportunities for hotels to advertise on premium TV streaming content platforms. For instance, integrations with services like Netflix allow marketers to reach highly engaged audiences within a premium streaming environment. This access enhances the credibility and appeal of your hotel's advertising efforts.

What are the latest advancements in CTV advertising for hotels?

Recently, Google Marketing Platform (GMP) has introduced several innovations that enhance CTV advertising capabilities for hotels:

CM360 + Netflix Ads integration: This integration streamlines ad serving and reporting, enabling marketers to reach Netflix's extensive subscriber base with contextual ads that align with viewer preferences.
Cross-media reach reporting: Campaign Manager 360 now offers reports that provide a unified view of reach across digital video and linear TV campaigns. This feature helps us better understand audience overlap and optimize our media strategies accordingly.
DV360 + Disney live sports and entertainment: Display & Video 360's certification with Disney allows for real-time bidding on live sports inventory, offering access to highly engaged audiences during major events.

Is Connected TV advertising right for your hotel?

While CTV is an incredibly beneficial tool for building brand engagement and awareness, it might not be right for all hotels. First and foremost, you must have the right creative assets. You’ll need professionally edited videos that are 15-30 seconds in length (think TV commercials). For many, this cost alone can be a barrier to entry.

Another thing to consider is the overall cost to run CTV advertising media. CTV ad types are much more expensive than regular display advertising, with CPMs averaging anywhere from $25-35. For this reason, GCommerce requires a $5K per month per campaign minimum to run CTV ads, but strongly recommends at least $10K per month to increase visibility and open the door to more targeting options and A/B test opportunities.

However, if your hotel has the opportunity to fund this initiative, the payoff is worth it. CTV is an ideal outlet for those looking to expand their brand into new markets and directly into the homes of prospective guests. It’s an incredibly powerful brand awareness tool and offers an easy entrance into a previously unattainable linear TV ad inventory type. On average, clients see a 98-99% video completion rate, with one current client seeing nearly 1 million users watch their video in full during a 90-day period.

Moving forward with CTV hotel ads

As the hospitality industry becomes increasingly competitive, hotels must adopt innovative marketing strategies to stand out. By leveraging the latest advancements in CTV technology and integrating these efforts with broader digital marketing initiatives, hotels can create compelling campaigns that resonate with modern travelers and drive bookings. Connect with the experts at GCommerce to get started today.

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

June 25, 2025 by GCommerce Solutions

How Boston Harbor Hotel increased direct bookings with website personalization & strategic campaigns

As travel demand stabilizes after the post-pandemic surge, hotels are faced with a new challenge: maintaining and growing direct bookings in a more competitive landscape.

In this exclusive webinar, GCommerce and The Hotels Network reveal how the Boston Harbor Hotel successfully adapted its digital strategy to outperform during a market slowdown. You’ll discover the combination of website personalization, targeted campaigns, and metasearch tactics that led to increased direct revenue—despite a declining travel trend.

What you'll learn:

✅ Respond to shifting travel trends with data-driven decisions

✅ Boost engagement through website personalization

✅ Drive direct bookings with strategic campaigns

✅ Optimize metasearch performance and ROI

✅ Apply tactics that future-proof your hotel’s digital strategy

Watch the recording here or below.

[Webinar recording] Understanding the hotel metasearch funnel

June 18, 2025 by GCommerce Solutions

In the context of hotel metasearch marketing, your listings function as a condensed sales funnel operating within the larger metasearch landscape. 🌐 This micro-funnel is crucial because it encapsulates the journey from initial exposure to final conversion, directly impacting your advertising effectiveness and the volume of direct bookings. 📈

During our webinar, we'll dive into three pivotal metrics that are instrumental in optimizing this funnel:

💻 Impression Share

🔗 Click-Through Rate (CTR)

📊 Conversion Rate

By meticulously tracking and optimizing these key metrics, hoteliers can refine their hotel metasearch strategies, enhance advertising performance, and ultimately increase the number of direct bookings. 📊 This webinar aims to equip properties with actionable insights to effectively leverage these metrics and drive measurable success in their hotel metasearch marketing efforts.

Watch the recording here or below.

Top 10 hotel marketing companies driving direct bookings in 2025

June 18, 2025 by GCommerce Solutions

Introduction: Take back control from OTAs

Independent hotels, resorts, and management groups that rely too heavily on online travel agencies (OTAs) often see shrinking profit margins. With OTA commissions averaging 16%, every booking made through a third-party platform cuts directly into profitability. The right hospitality marketing agency helps reduce OTA dependence and strengthen direct booking strategies.

This guide highlights the top hotel marketing companies of 2025, each specializing in strategies designed to improve occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, and overall revenue performance. Whether you manage a boutique property or a multi-property portfolio, these companies provide solutions that maximize direct booking revenue and long-term profitability.

The top 10 hotel marketing companies

1. Preferred Hotels and Resorts – Global reach with direct booking support
Preferred Hotels and Resorts offers independent hotels the strength of a global brand paired with direct booking strategies.

As both a marketing partner and a distribution platform, offerings that increase visibility and revenue include:
- The I Prefer Hotel Rewards program
- Global partnerships
- Brand marketing resources

2. Historic Hotels of America – Storytelling for landmark properties
Historic Hotels of America specializes in marketing for heritage and cultural properties. By highlighting authenticity and history-driven travel experiences, they help properties connect with culture-focused travelers and capture more direct bookings through their global collection.

3. GCommerce – Hospitality data platform powering hotel marketing
GCommerce is a pioneering digital marketing agency for hotels and resorts, shaping how properties connect with travelers and setting the standard as a thought leader in hospitality marketing. We deliver measurable results through services including:

Paid search
Hotel metasearch and Google Hotel Ads
Social Media advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and more
Display advertising
SEO and AI SEO
Award-winning web design
Our proprietary Metadesk platform enhances metasearch performance with automation and insights, and they are evolving into a hospitality intelligence company that integrates media, technology, and data to drive deeper revenue growth for hotels and resorts.

4. Metadesk – Specialists in hotel metasearch marketing
Metadesk focuses on hotel metasearch advertising. Our ROI-driven campaigns help properties capture more direct bookings through Google Hotel Ads, TripAdvisor, and Trivago. Metadesk gives properties a competitive advantage in metasearch marketing. Key features and benefits include:

Transparency and performance are at the core of our approach
Easy setup
Ongoing strategy and hotel metasearch optimization
Variable commission and flexible pricing options
Reporting on-demand

5. The Hotels Network – Personalization and conversion optimization
The Hotels Network equips properties with website personalization and conversion tools designed to increase direct bookings. Their solutions include:

Predictive analytics
Custom and AI-powered audience and messaging features
Guest journey insights that help hotels and resorts maximize website performance
Voice and website AI-powered chat solutions

6. Azira – Data-driven creativity for hospitality marketing
Azira blends valuable mobile device data with performance-focused digital strategies. It’s leading location intelligence platform powers marketing campaigns with advanced targeting solutions. Their audience and media solutions include:

Ability to access the traveler insights you need to target, attract, and serve your visitors with on-demand reporting pulled from Azira’s wealth of mobile-based location visitation data
Strategic selection of audiences curated by the Azira team to reach audiences and demographics that match your property’s target audience and buyer personas
Use of audiences within Facebook, DV360 and TikTok ad accounts
Advanced strategies and testing of audiences within prospecting campaigns across Tiktok, Facebook and Display

7. Revinate – Guest data and CRM solutions
Revinate enables hotels and resorts to drive direct bookings with guest data and CRM tools. Their platform powers personalized email marketing, loyalty programs, and reputation management, helping properties build long-term guest relationships. Hotel marketing olutions include:

Reservation sales voice reservation channel
Revinate hotel email marketing and CRM platform
Revinate Ivy guest messaging
Guest feedback for hotel reputation management and surveys

8. Flip.to – Guest advocacy marketing
Flip.to helps properties turn travelers into storytellers. By leveraging guest advocacy, properties extend their reach through authentic, word-of-mouth marketing that builds trust and captures direct bookings from new audiences. Hotel marketing solutions include:

Flip.to Advocacy
Flip.to Discovery

9. Inntopia – Centralized reservation and distribution solutions
Inntopia integrates marketing, commerce, and guest data into a unified central reservation system. Their tools streamline operations while improving direct booking performance, making them a valuable technology and marketing partner.

10. Curacity – Demand generation through premium content
Curacity connects hotels and resorts with premium media opportunities to build awareness and drive direct bookings. By securing placements in trusted publications, they generate demand from highly engaged audiences. Their PR platform offers:

Ability to craft and share your key messaging points
Automated distribution via top publications, including Travel + Leisure, Food and Wine and Conde Nast

Choosing the right hospitality marketing agency

The top hotel marketing companies of 2025 give properties more control over their revenue channels. From data-driven digital strategies to guest advocacy and personalization, these companies help hotels and resorts increase direct bookings, improve profitability, and reduce OTA dependence.

If you are ready to take control of your direct booking strategy, GCommerce delivers the expertise, technology, and data-driven insights to grow long-term performance. Connect with our team today to start building a stronger direct booking channel for your property.

Key takeaways from Google I/O 2025 for hotel marketers

May 26, 2025 by GCommerce Solutions

It was a busy week for Google. Along with Google Marketing Live on Wednesday, Google I/O took place this week, and between the two, they announced an incredible list of updates (100+ between the two events!). While Google Marketing Live centered around product updates associated with its ad campaigns and platforms, Google I/O focused on updates more applicable to organic search marketing.

It’s such an incredible moment in history for organic search. Generative AI platforms are pushing change across the industry, and it has big implications for hotel organic search marketing. Here are our top takeaways for hotels from Google’s I/O 2025.

AI Mode rolling out to everyone in the US

As of May 20th, 2025, Google announced that its AI Mode search experience is rolling out to everyone in the US. It was previously just available to those who opted in via Search Labs. Our team has been deep in testing mode with this new search experience and will be releasing a study soon. Unfortunately, it has been discovered that there is currently no referral tracking in analytics from AI Mode, and this traffic is being tracked as direct traffic. This means AI Mode traffic is currently untrackable. Google recently announced that AI Mode reporting will be coming to Search Console, although we still don’t know how it will show. As usage of this search experience increases, it will most likely mean a continued decline in organic search traffic to hotel websites. We’re having to let go of even more data as it’s taken away from us and lean into AI, as well as a deeper understanding, to ensure our ads are visible where our audience spends their time. Also noteworthy is that Google announced ads are coming to AI Mode and AI overviews during Google Marketing Live.

Agentic capabilities in AI Mode

Google announced it’s bringing agentic capabilities to AI Mode, starting with the ability to let the agent search out, compare shop between sites, and present site options to book your event ticket. How? They are partnering with top ticket broker sites like StubHub to provide a seamless experience. They are starting with event tickets but plan to roll this out to restaurant reservations and local appointments. It’s only a matter of time before it hits the hotel industry. History shows that Google leans into partnerships with top industry companies that can support the tech. Alexa partnered with Kayak early on for voice search. Recently, Selfbook and Perplexity announced a partnership to enable booking directly on the platform - it’s available for hotels using the Selfbook booking engine. This gave us hope for independent hotels and the battle for direct bookings. We can only hope that other booking engine providers will lead this charge. Chances are, sites like Kayak or OTAs will step up to be the first.

Pushing boundaries of Google Search with Google Lens

Google Lens now offers live search capabilities. Examples shown? Being mid-project and need guidance on what the next steps should be in the process. Google returns multi-modal results from video, forms, blogs, and more. In Google Marketing Live they hinted at how much image-based search shows purchase intent. Hoteliers need to be thinking about expanding content and topical relevance, from enhancing blogs to including video and continuing to produce stunning visual assets. Additionally, focusing on structured markup of all site components will help ensure they are more easily found in Google’s entity mapping.

AI Mode shopping experience

Shopping/ecommerce always tends to be a step ahead with search features. Google announced a new AI-driven shopping experience that allows shoppers to virtually try on clothes, engage with AI to filter and find the best items, and even check out and purchase them using Google Pay. It’s pretty wild that many booking engine providers still don’t accept mobile wallets like Google and Apple Pay. The future is hinting towards a world where AI agents book our hotel rooms for us, but right now it seems like only via platforms that integrate into this type of ecommerce technology space.

AI Mode gets even more personal with results

Google’s algorithm has incorporated AI for years with its RankBrain technology. Coupled with its algorithm, it’s focused on incorporating your search history, location and more into providing personalized results. AI Mode takes this a step further. It allows you to opt in to connect it to other Google apps, like Gmail. Using structured data, it can view your email content and make personalized results using the data. Google’s example, “you can get suggestions for events while you’re in town….based on your flight and hotel confirmations” in your inbox. Mind blown. The breadth of 1st party data that Google will be able to tap into will be monumental in helping you reach an even more targeted audience using AI. We’ve seen the power of leaning into Meta (Facebook/Instagram)’s AI audiences over the years, now it looks like Google is stepping up the game to provide even more relevant, personalized, and qualified results for each user.

These are just a handful of takeaways from an incredibly packed Google I/O 2025. They also announced a huge roll out of product features from some mind-bending AI video and image capabilities, Google Meet live translation (English/Spanish only to start), and so much more. You can check out the full keynote recordings here. It’s truly an exciting time for the world of digital marketing. It’s rapidly changing and we’re excited to explore the new frontier for digital marketing for hotels.

Be the hotel AI recommends first.