INTRODUCTION
Formerly Google Hotel Finder, Google Hotel Search is one of the major metasearch engines used by travelers. In fact, research by D-EDGE shows that Google Hotel Search is the largest metasearch channel in terms of the number of clicks and bookings.
That’s because it’s integrated with other popular Google services, like Search, Maps and Google Assistant. Google Hotel Ads can further increase bookings by prominently displaying your property to the millions of people using Google to plan trips.
Following are some tips on how to use Google Hotel Ads for your hotel, hotel group or resort.
WHY YOU SHOULD USE GOOGLE HOTEL ADS (VS. OTHER TYPES OF GOOGLE ADS)
Google Hotel Ads provide dynamic, real-time information about your property, such as room availability and rates, across Google Search, Maps and Assistant. Travelers also are able to compare prices with other platforms (like online travel agencies) that offer bookings for your hotel, or book their stay direct or through Google.
Since hotel campaigns are geared toward booking rooms, your ads will only appear if they match the criteria travelers are looking for. In other words, your hotel ad won’t show up if you are completely booked for a specific date range, or if you don’t have available inventory for a specific type of room.
When someone clicks on your ad, Google will route them to an expanded ad page where they can learn more about your hotel. For example, travelers can view all available rooms, photos, amenities and more.
Plus, Google Hotel Ads’ diverse bidding strategies allow you to pay per click, pay per booking or pay per stay.
Other types of Google Ads campaigns, like Search or Display, use more traditional pay-per-click or pay-per-conversion models. These types of ads are always visible, regardless of room availability, and guests need to navigate to your website or landing page to book.
When possible, create a combination of ads to maximize results. For instance, use hotel ads to show available rooms to travelers that are actively looking to book. At the same time, use Search and Display ads to capture people researching a future trip, or to increase brand awareness for your hotel.
HOW TO ACTIVATE GOOGLE HOTEL ADS
Before you can create a Google Hotel Ads campaign, you must complete (and manage) your hotel’s Google My Business page. Google will reference your account to confirm business details, and ads will pull some information from this source.
Next, set up your hotel list feed (e.g. the locations you want to promote), price feed (e.g. an up-to-date list of rates for various itineraries) and point-of-sale configuration (e.g. landing pages) within Google Hotel Center.
The easiest way to do this is to work with an integration partner that is connected to Google. Otherwise, you can apply to set up direct integration by completing the Hotel Ads Interest Form. You must be onboarded through one of these routes to access your Hotel Center account.
Direct integration requires a high degree of technical knowledge and can be time-consuming, especially for larger hotels. If you go this route, make sure to reference Google’s Hotel Ads developers documentation for detailed requirements and guidelines. Once you’re setup, you can upload, publish and manage your data feeds within Hotel Center.
Finally, link your Hotel Center and Google Ads accounts to get set up for Google Hotel Ads. You can do this from either platform.
HOW TO CREATE GOOGLE HOTEL ADS
To launch your hotel ads, log in to Google Ads and start a new campaign. Click “create a campaign without a goal’s guidance” and select “Hotel” under campaign type. Then name your campaign and choose your bidding strategy.
Commissions-per-conversion optimizes for bookings, while commissions-per-stay optimizes for actual guest stays. Both of these strategies are automated and can help keep costs under control. You must set up conversion tracking in order to use either option.
If you opt for pay-per-stay, you will need to take extra steps, like obtaining approval from Google and uploading reconciliation reports.
Set your commission rate and total campaign budget based on your internal business goals. Google will calculate a maximum cost-per-click that aligns with your budget and adjust the bid using auction-time details. Then select the devices (e.g. computer, mobile device or both) and location(s) you’d like to target.
Finally, set your start and end dates, name your ad group and click save. Your Google Hotel Ads campaign will use the feed data in Hotel Center and Google My Business to generate your ads. The promoted listings will include the name of the hotel, price, review star ratings, photos and some amenities.
Monitor ad performance within Google Ads and make adjustments to your bid or data feeds as needed.