Google has announced booking links in Hotel Ads are to be offered for free as part of its efforts to support the return of travel after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a latest blog post, the search giant said the ads have show themselves to be highly useful to both partners and users and a potentially valuable source of customers.
The decision to add organic results to the paid-for ads service for hotel operators and travel companies, comes as Google says it is “optimistic about the road ahead”.
Richard Holden, vice president, product management, Travel, said: “When travel does resume in earnest, it’s crucial that people can find the information they’re looking for and easily connect with travel companies online.”
Google says it is now “improving this experience” by making Hotel Ads free for hotels and travel companies to appear in hotel booking links on
google.com/travel. The organic listings went live yesterday (March 9).
The firm added: “For all hotels and travel companies, this change brings a new, free way to reach potential customers. For advertisers, free booking links can extend the reach of existing Hotel Ads campaigns.
“Our testing of this new feature shows that all partner types — from individual hotels to online travel agents — benefit from free booking links through increased booking traffic and user engagement.”
Existing users of Google’s Hotel Prices API and Hotel Ads do not need to take any action to appear in free booking links. Any hotel or travel company that is
eligible to participate can do so via their Hotel Center account.
The ranking of the organic search results will be based on an algorithm that looks at non-commercial factors, and pricing accuracy will be ensured through new tools and processes as well as using reliable data sources.
Google said: “Over the coming months, we’ll also continue to improve the onboarding process for new partners on Hotel Center and introduce tools that allow individual hotels to provide their rates and availability directly, without complex technical requirements.”
The company added: “Today’s update is part of our larger effort to ensure people have access to all offers available to them by providing free and easy ways for businesses to connect with people on Google.
“We made it free for partners to participate in Google Flights early last year, and in April we
opened our Shopping tab to free listings for online retail.
“Over time, we’ll continue building this open platform, so that all partners will have even more opportunities to highlight their information and help people book a flight, find a place to stay, or explore a new destination.
“Although the world will certainly look different when travel comes back, our mission to be a trusted source of travel information will remain unchanged.
“We look forward to building better user experiences and partnering closely with the entire industry in service of this mission.”
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