You’ve probably read a lot in my previous posts about working with different OTAs and how to find balance with them. Besides, there is an unfairly neglected service that has actually been available on the market for 10 years and we haven’t talked about it yet. It’s called Google Hotel and it's time to discuss it.

• What is Google Hotel Ads and how does it work?
• What are the benefits of using it?
• How do you get the most out of Google Hotel?

You can find out from the following article. Let's begin!

What is ?

The system was originally called Google Hotel Finder and was created in 2011 as a meta-search platform. This means that it displayed hotel prices compared to OTA prices.

Google Hotel now knows a lot more than that: you can introduce your hotel to potential guests on Google Search and Google Maps in both paid and organic results. You can link the search result to your hotel’s own booking engine, turning it into a valuable tool to increase your direct sales.

How does it work?

When a potential guest searches on Google for a specific destination, like "hotels in Budapest," a search box appears immediately below the paid ads. In this field, the user has the option to refine the result by selecting travel dates, number of people, rating, cancellation policy, or price range. After refining the data, the list of hotels will be updated with the most relevant results.

When a user clicks on a hotel in the list, (s)he will be led to the selected hotel’s Google My Business page, which contains useful information about the property, such as guest reviews, photos, and location on the map. Google Hotel Ads also provides a price comparison of the prices on different OTAs.

How to set up Google Hotel Ads

When setting up the system, you can choose from two different models:

How can you benefit from Hotel Google Ads?

• Direct Bookings: One of the key benefits of using Google Hotel Ads is that you can use Google to generate more bookings. If used properly, guests will book directly on your website, commission-free.
  
  
• Access to guest data: Another important factor is that, unlike OTAs, direct bookings allow you to access guest data immediately. This way you can start building a direct connection with the guests instantly after booking. SabeeApp GuestAdvisor can provide you with outstanding support with that.
  
  
• Increased visibility with Google: By actively using the system, you can increase the visibility of your hotel not only on Google Search but also on Google Maps. This can result in increased traffic by guests who organize their trips and book their hotels through Google.

How do you get the most out of it?

• Get more bookings for free with Google Hotel: World tourism is still recovering from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, so businesses with tourism benefits are all set to help increase their revenue. With free booking links, Google offers your hotel a free way to appear in search results on Google Search and Google Maps.
  
  
• Highlight your hotel’s sustainability practices: With Google Hotel’s new feature, you can show your hotel’s green policies and guidelines to win the hearts of environmentally conscious guests.
  
  
• Display your hotel’s unique offerings: Do you apply higher standards of cleanliness because of Covid? Do you offer flexible cancellation policies? This information can be crucial for potential guests, so it’s important to use the opportunity in Google to highlight them.

Final thoughts

Both Google Hotel Ads and free booking links give you a great opportunity to make your hotel less dependent on OTAs. It helps you to increase the awareness of your hotel and to boost the number of direct bookings at the same time. Optimizing your accommodation at Google Hotel can pay off in the short term, so I recommend you get it done as soon as possible. Set up your system and expand your sales channels with the possibility to receive bookings through Google.