At the beginning of this week, Google did a special announcement, shaking up the hotel industry. While hoteliers try their best to keep their heads up, Google wants to support both hoteliers and bookers by making Google Hotel Ads hotel booking links available for free.
Google Hotel Ads (once Google Hotel Finder) is a metasearch website that displays your hotel amongst other hotels in the search area. When a booker clicks on a specific hotel, they will see an overview of room rates per booking site and can easily compare prices before booking a room for the best price.
Previously, Google Hotel Ads was a paid service, but Google has just announced that they will open their price-comparison search, free for every hotelier. They say this is their way to help reach potential customers. And for bookers, this opportunity makes the search for the best stay more accessible and transparent.
‘’With full access to a wider range of hotel prices, users will have a more comprehensive set of options as they research their trip and ultimately decide where to book.’’
(source: Google blog)
It’s worth noting that Google Hotel Ads isn’t 100% free. Just as with the Google search engine, you’ll see advertisements for hotels that have paid to be at the top of the overview. We estimate that there will be three or four ads at the top, followed by the free hotel booking links.
If you’re already working with Google Hotel Ads then you don’t need to worry; your hotel will appear in the free booking links on Google Travel. If you do want to start working with this metasearch platform, you can easily sign up.
SmartHOTEL can help you with a connection to your channel manager, making sure the availability and rates are always up-to-date on Google Hotel Ads. Curious how we can help you? Check out our FAQ about connections or contact us!
About SmartHOTEL
For more than 16 years, SmartHOTEL has been helping hoteliers navigate the exciting world of online distribution. From our office based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, our team serves independent hotels, hostels and chains worldwide by providing channel management and tailored online distribution solutions. A lot has changed over the last years, but our goal remains the same: simply connect hotels to the world. For any questions regarding our services, please contact us at sales@smarthotel.nl or call +31 (0)182 75 11 18.