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How does GOOGLE HOTEL ADS work?
What is Google Hotel Ads?
Google Hotel Ads is the tool designed by Google for hotels to increase direct bookings and visibility on the search engine. Like the other metasearch portals (trivago and TripAdvisor), Google Hotel Ads also aims to compare the prices of a property on the different OTAs.
By activating a campaign with Google, the hotel’s official website will also be shown in the list. By clicking on the link, the interested traveler can arrive on the property’s website and book directly from the booking engine. Furthermore, like the other meta engines, Google also wants to place itself between the traveler and the property. This means making sure to show availability and prices to interested users from both Google search and Google Maps.
But let’s see how Google Hotel Ads works.
What are the requirements to activate a campaign in Google Hotel Ads?
Activating the campaign on Google Hotel Ads allows you to receive direct bookings on your site from the most famous search engine in the world. But you have to have some requirements.
- Google My Business form properly filled out. It will be the showcase of the hotel. It is therefore essential that all the necessary information is present. For example the correct address, photos, reviews and details of the property.
- Use a certified Booking Engine that is Google partner. The booking engine must be integrated with Google in order to receive bookings from the channel and send updates. RoomCloud Booking Engine is certified for Google Hotel Ads campaigns.
How does Google Hotel Ads work?
Hotel campaigns allow you to promote your property’s prices and availability in Google and Google Maps search results.
If you click on a hotel from the Google map or through the organic search, a tab opens with all the details of the property.
In addition to the photos, the address and the reviews, there is also a list of OTAs with the relative price. By clicking you can choose which portal to proceed with the booking. By activating the Hotel Ads campaign, among the various OTAs to choose from, a direct link to your website will also appear.
Attention! Even without activating a Google Hotel Ads campaign, your property will still appear. The only difference is that there will be no link to your site. So the traveler can only book through OTAs.
How much does the campaign cost in Google?
Google Hotel Ads campaigns are based on a commission model. It consists of paying a 10% commission to Google for each completed booking in your booking engine. The big advantage is that you only pay for confirmed bookings. The CPS model is in fact different from the model called CPA (Cost per Acquisition). In this case, you only paid for bookings received, but cancellations and no-shows were also included in the count. With CPS campaigns, this does not happen.
To avoid paying commission on no-shows, it is essential to report the no-show within 3 days to the RoomCloud team. Commissions are billed each month for reservations with check outs in the previous month.
How to activate Google Hotel Ads campaigns?
As we have seen before, in order to activate a campaign in Google it is necessary to have a booking engine capable of sending updated prices and availability and receiving reservations from Google. RoomCloud booking engine is one of Google’s certified partners for metasearch campaigns. Start a free demo or write to info@roomcloud.net to receive all the information.
Searches from Google Maps
As with the search network, Google also shows prices and availability for the search made by Google Maps.
The operation is the same as for traditional search. By activating a Google Hotel Ads campaign it will be easier to be found by customers looking for a stay in a specific area. By clicking on the box of the hotel, the user is in fact always redirected to the Google My Business profile, where he can see the prices of the rooms on the OTAs. If there is an active campaign, he can click on the link to the official website and complete his direct booking.
Refundable rates in Google Hotel Ads
Google has chosen to meet the needs of travelers by giving the possibility to filter only the rooms with a refundable rate. Therefore, hoteliers are advised to show at least one refundable rate on the metasearch. Click here to learn more about refundable rates at Google.
