Over the past several months Google have made improvements to hotel search, to help travelers find information more quickly and to enable hotels to generate more qualified leads. As a continuation of these efforts, Google announced a few more changes to Hotel Ads on Google:
broader availability for the Google Hotel Ads Commission program, an expansion of the Book on Google feature to more partners, and the inclusion of more amenity information within Google search. With these changes, Google will be retiring the dedicated site for Hotel Finder this week, as users are now able to access the hotel information they need right from Google search.
Making it easier for more hotels to generate qualified leads from Google
Earlier this year Google started testing the Google Hotel Ads Commission Program with a small set of independent hotels. With this program, these hotels are charged on the industry-standard commission basis rather than cost-per-click, making it easier for smaller, independent hotels to use Google Hotel Ads. Today, Google announcing that more hotels can participate in this program now that they have partnered with leading hotel technology solutions providers.
Seekda, one of the participating hotel technology solutions providers, helps Google offer hotels a risk-free way to reach a massive audience efficiently. “Google Hotel Ads allows hotels to be there when a traveler is ready to book, and pay only when a booking is made or consumed,” says Klaus Niederacher, General Manager and COO at Seekda. “This new commission model gives smaller chains and independent hotels the option to participate in the highly effective Google Hotel Ads, without having to manage CPC bids and budgets.”
So far, the program has proven to be successful at driving bookings for hoteliers. According to Scott Koehler, Senior Vice President, Product & Operations of TravelClick: “Since March, hotels enrolled in TravelClick’s Demand Services program have seen, on average, a 56 percent year-over-year increase in revenue driven by Google Hotel Ads. The evolution from a pay-per-click to commission model has increased hotel revenue.”
