In a move that conveniently, and almost suspiciously, follows the Expedia/Orbitz merger, Google today announced the roll-out of a commission based advertising model for hotels. Although this comes as no surprise to those familiar with the situation, Google throwing their weight around has potential to create some big shakeups in the battle for bookings. While the company has been testing the product with a small group of hotels earlier this year, this is the first major step that Google has taken into the OTA field. Now rather than treating Google as they would a metasearch engine, hotels can list their properties and room availability directly on the site, eliminating the need for buyers to navigate away to complete their purchase.As a result of the move, Google Hotel Finder will be no more at the end of the week (insert moment of silence here), since all hotel bookings can now be made directly from Google search. According to the search engine giant, this new configuration is designed to make it easier for smaller, independent brands to fully utilize Google Hotel Ads without having to manage CPC bids and budgets.With TripAdvisor’s plans to dapple in instant bookings on their own platform, it might not be that far-fetched to assume that the era of metasearch is drawing to a close. While this might be great for the bottom line for big booking conglomerates and data giants, they are leaving hoteliers with a commission-based headache that only direct bookings can cure.
In a move that conveniently, and almost suspiciously, follows the Expedia/Orbitz merger, Google today announced the roll-out of a commission based advertising model for hotels. Although this comes as no surprise to those familiar with the situation, Google throwing their weight around has potential to create some big shakeups in the battle for bookings. While the company has been testing the product with a small group of hotels earlier this year, this is the first major step that Google has taken into the OTA field. Now rather than treating Google as they would a metasearch engine, hotels can list their properties and room availability directly on the site, eliminating the need for buyers to navigate away to complete their purchase.As a result of the move, Google Hotel Finder will be no more at the end of the week (insert moment of silence here), since all hotel bookings can now be made directly from Google search. According to the search engine giant, this new configuration is designed to make it easier for smaller, independent brands to fully utilize Google Hotel Ads without having to manage CPC bids and budgets.With TripAdvisor’s plans to dapple in instant bookings on their own platform, it might not be that far-fetched to assume that the era of metasearch is drawing to a close. While this might be great for the bottom line for big booking conglomerates and data giants, they are leaving hoteliers with a commission-based headache that only direct bookings can cure.
