Google is quickly emerging as a key player in the luxury 5-star hotel distribution market, displaying your room availability and rates on Google search, maps and the assistant.
What is Google Hotel Ads?
Google Hotel Ads (GHA) is an advertising service having similar settings to their general ads - such as being triggered by certain keywords - but with many hotel specific parameters. Its rich feature set helps you to provide guests with more useful information including hotel pictures, short form information, links, map, available dates and prices, and a booking form.
If you don't use this platform, we would strongly recommend it as it encourages both new and returning guests to book direct through your hotel website.
It is particularly effective when used in conjunction with a brand PPC campaign. Regardless of hotel type, you pay only when guests book a room.
How does GHA work?
When a guest searches for a luxury five-star hotel, depending on the search phrase they used, they will see GHAs appear on the right-hand side results in the knowledge panel or in the hotel module.
The ad showcases real time rates and availability for your property from a range of sources. Your ad won't show up if you are fully booked for the search period.
Your hotel’s official website will only be listed in Google hotel ads if you have specifically opted in and provided Google with your up-to-date inventory, rates, and room types.
There will be other ads from meta search providers (OTAs) which is why it is crucial that you have the latest information and a lowest price guarantee on your own website booking engine.
You will need a Google My Business account which contains the following information:
- hotel name (spelled with large font)
- pictures and interactive map
- brief hotel description
- address and phone number
- list of room services
- Google rating and reviews
- Link to the hotel's website
- book button
There are several charging models – we favor pay-per-conversion where the hotel is only charged when a guest books.
Don't have availability? Then your hotel is not shown and you can't be charged for a click.
Why does your hotel need GHAs?
With powerful OTAs and their rising commission fees, hotels are constantly searching for ideas to direct traffic to their own booking engine.
What are the benefits of GHAs?
- You own your guest data and relationship. When guests book direct, you have their details and you can deliver email marketing and sales collateral. You can enroll them into a loyalty program to convert them to long term guests. When they use OTAs for booking you lose all this and worse, they may start to use a meta search app.
- It creates a culture of direct booking. Guests begin to understand the advantages of booking on your own site and are more likely to do so again.
- It increases direct traffic and revenue. You can compete directly with OTAs to win more direct bookings. Even if you don't use OTAs, GHAs offer an opportunity to deliver improved visibility of your rates and availability earlier in the customer journey.
- When using the Aró booking engine, we setup and manage your GHAs at no extra cost. You only pay when a guest books a room with you.
Google is constantly changing the digital sphere. Following recent updates to its search results, organic listings are sliding lower and lower down the page.
No matter how committed you are to great SEO, keyword research, backlinking, and well-optimized PPC campaigns, Google hotel ads is now another must in order to stay in the online race.
Contact us today to get your Google hotel ads running if you want to say hello to increased profitability.