Connect your rates and availability to Google through an integration partner or your booking engine, appear in free booking links first, then add hotel campaigns with a bidding model that fits how you want to pay. Show total prices, keep them accurate, and measure net room revenue against cost.
Brand search ads on your hotel's name are a separate, simpler campaign worth testing too.
Where hotel ads appear
Google's guide to how travelers find booking links describes the path: a hotel search shows a module with hotels, photos, prices and a map; selecting a hotel opens its details page with a booking module. Paid booking links carry an "Ads" label; free booking links appear under "All options". The price shown in the list is the lowest across all partners for that property. Hotel campaigns appear after hotel searches on Google Search, Maps and YouTube, and show your company and hotel name, the price and short callouts about booking with you.
What you need to start
Google's getting started page lists four pieces, and recommends working with an authorized integration partner, which can also manage campaigns; direct integration is possible for eligible partners:
- A hotel list with each property's name, address and attributes.
- Prices and availability for itineraries, sent to Google in a supported way.
- A delivery mode for those prices.
- Booking landing pages where guests can book.
Bidding options
Google's hotel campaigns page lists these strategies:
- Commission per conversion: you pay only when a traveler books, at the payment model you choose.
- Commission per stay: you pay only when the guest completes the stay; Google says it is available to select partners and is being sunset.
- Target ROAS: Google sets bids to maximize booking value against a target return on ad spend.
- Max CPC, fixed or percent: you pay per click, with adjustments for device, traveler location, length of stay and more.
- Enhanced CPC: automated adjustments on top of max CPC.
How ads are ranked, and why price accuracy matters
Google says ad rank comes from an auction that weighs partner bids and ad quality, and that quality factors include the accuracy of the partner's prices and how well the ad meets the traveler's need. Keep rates in sync, and set taxes and fees correctly; Hotel Center's taxes and fees page lists them per property. In the USA, the FTC's fees rule requires the total price for short-term lodging, fees included, to be shown clearly and more prominently than other pricing, so the price guests see on Google and on your booking page should match and include mandatory fees.
Targeting and rates
Hotel campaigns budget and target by the traveler's country of residence and device, with ad groups for itinerary-based bid adjustments and hotel groups for base bids. Google's pricing strategy page says geo-targeted rates work only at country level, and explains conditional and private rates, such as member rates. Use them to show domestic and international travelers the rates meant for them, and to give members a reason to book direct.
The Official site badge
Google's Official site badge appears for hotel owners, direct suppliers, central reservation systems and integration partners, never for travel agencies, and only one partner per property receives it, at no extra cost. It tells travelers which link is the hotel's own. Make sure the partner sending your rates is the one you want to carry it.
Brand search campaigns
Travelers who search your hotel's name often see agency ads above your own result. A simple search campaign on your hotel's name, landing on your booking page with dates carried through, lets you appear first with your own rate and perks. Test it against the bookings you would have won anyway.
How to measure hotel ads
Count bookings and room revenue from hotel campaigns and brand search, net of cancellations, against what the campaigns cost; compare that cost with the commission the same bookings would have paid an agency; and track the direct share of room revenue over the season. Clicks and impressions are context.
What we do and do not do
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. We plan and run hotel campaigns and brand search through our performance marketing service, working alongside your integration partner or booking engine provider. We hold no Google partner status and claim none. Our hospitality marketing page describes the work, and our direct booking strategies guide covers the rest of the direct plan.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.