A large number of Google’s hotel partners, of all sizes and regions around the world, have begun using the pay-per-stay option to participate in Google marketing managing the uncertainty that still exists in most areas about consumer travel patterns
Fremont, CA: With hotels exploring new methods to capture new bookings while minimizing expenses, Google has offered its new ad pricing product that provides low-risk visibility in its Google Hotel Ads platform. Google has made its pay per stay, earlier known as Google Hotel Ads Commission Program, available to all Google Hotel Ads partners globally since April, expanding from a small pilot that had operated for a few years. Hotel partners that make use of this option will only have to pay Google for their ad after the guest stay has occurred. If a traveler books and then cancels, the commission is not due.
“What became clear as the COVID crisis unfolded was that cancellations especially were a major factor. Helping share risk with our partners and helping our partners manage cancellation risk – that motivated us to prioritize and scale up this program and accelerate it,” says Michael Trauttmansdorff, Google’s group product manager for travel ads. “Google will succeed if our partners are successful, and if our users are served well by the product that we offer. Ultimately if we can manage that risk, we think it is a reasonable step to take.”
According to Trauttmansdorff, a large number of Google’s hotel partners, of all sizes and regions around the world, have begun using the pay-per-stay option to participate in Google marketing managing the uncertainty that still exists in most areas about consumer travel patterns. The company is also looking to roll out a more prominent way for hotels to share their cancellation options.
“We see really heightened interest in from travelers is around understanding the flexibility and terms attached to booking a particular rate,” Trauttmansdorff added. “What we are prioritizing and rolling out in the coming weeks is a much more consistent display of what the cancellation policy is for any given rate and filtering capabilities so travelers who really prioritize flexibility and refundability can identify which hotels, which prices really satisfy their needs.”
According to Pablo Delgado, CEO of hotel direct sales consultancy Mirai, the new pay per stay option provides the hotel industry what it wanted and could not find in any other meta, an easy, convenient and risk-free way of being in a fast-growing metas such as Hotel Ads. The new commission pricing option, in tandem with Google’s Property Promotion Ads format that makes hotels visible to users at the top of the funnel when searching simply by destination or concept, changes the rules of the game for hotel marketing.
