PROBLEM:Our properties were seeing a massive rise in CPC (cost-per-click) as more competitors were coming into the market (Google testing out vacation rental ads), and we didn’t want the solution to be “give us more budget to work with”. SOLUTION:A few properties trusted us to get creative. So, we decided to test out whether or not the OTA algorithm’s had a certain “threshold” when it came to bids. To do so, we went well above what “best practice” would call the right bid. RESULT:We saw OTAs actually drop off from bids at a certain threshold and - in the end - dramatically drop CPC for said properties. Example: We were alerted as CPC for a client rose from the original $0.70, and jumped into action as it quickly reached $1.30. After our testing of and experimentation with the OTA threshold; we successfully brought CPC back to $0.74 and lower.
PROBLEM:Our properties were seeing a massive rise in CPC (cost-per-click) as more competitors were coming into the market (Google testing out vacation rental ads), and we didn’t want the solution to be “give us more budget to work with”. SOLUTION:A few properties trusted us to get creative. So, we decided to test out whether or not the OTA algorithm’s had a certain “threshold” when it came to bids. To do so, we went well above what “best practice” would call the right bid. RESULT:We saw OTAs actually drop off from bids at a certain threshold and - in the end - dramatically drop CPC for said properties. Example: We were alerted as CPC for a client rose from the original $0.70, and jumped into action as it quickly reached $1.30. After our testing of and experimentation with the OTA threshold; we successfully brought CPC back to $0.74 and lower.
