Google introduces three new travel products for hotels

Hotels looking to book new travelers and take advantage of this summer travel frenzy will soon discover a much easier way to manage and change their prices.

What’s new. Earlier this week, Google announced three new features to actively open the boarding process for hotels that want to quote their prices or provide booking links through Google.

Update 1: Protocols in line with industry standards. Google will support industry standard protocols to publish hotel prices online. These protocols are designed to help different hotels stay consistent when booking, loading new prices and changing.

Update 2: No more spreadsheets. Hotels will no longer have to upload complicated spreadsheets and files to add prices to their Google business profile. Instead, Google simplifies this process by allowing them to enter their prices directly into their profiles. This change should make it easier for hotels to keep up with demand and change rates without involving technology providers or partners.

Update 3: Open access to hotel ads. Soon, hotels will no longer need a Hotel Center account to run their campaigns. This means that any Google advertiser can search and run campaigns for any hotel site. Asked whether the Hotel Center accounts will be completely closed, Google said: “We will not phase out Hotel Center accounts. Current hotel advertisers with existing Hotel Center accounts will continue to operate and display ads as usual. “

Launch date. Google actively supports industry protocols and allows hotels to enter their prices into Google My Business. However, there is no information yet on when the request for the Hotel Center account will be eliminated.

What Google says. Regarding the reason for the changes, a Google spokesperson for Search Engine Land said: “We are simplifying this process to help more advertisers use hotel ads and activate them faster. This is part of our overall effort to help more hotel businesses connect to the web.

Rising journey. Google suggests this searches for passport meetings increased by 300% in the first four months of 2022.

Earlier this week Snapchat also announced the introduction of dynamic travel ads. The new feature allows brands like Booking.com to create catalogs and serve audiences based on travel purposes. Focusing on travel-related products should give us an early clue as to where the industry is going.

Good and bad. Adding prices to your hotel’s Google profile allows them to appear on search, maps, and YouTube. These free booking links will also direct users to book on the actual hotel website – not a third party. Which means more revenue for the hotel and less for sites like Booking.com or Hotels.com. Hotels are also not allowed to add more prices for different types of rooms, minimum stay limits or discounts for multiple nights.

Official announcement. Read the full notice and documents about the current setup here.

Why we care. Travel is coming back and consumers want an easy and simplified process for booking hotels directly and real-time room prices. These updates should help advertisers and hotels that manage ads stay ahead of the competition, as they will be able to change prices directly in their Google business profiles.