This is the second of a 4-part post about Google’s latest travel industry updates. Read part one – ‘Will your hotel thrive or dive under the new Google changes.‘
Introducing Google’s Hotel Finder
When searching for a hotel on Google Hotel Finder, users are given results matching their criteria and filters. By clicking on a specific hotel a window pops up with a red booking button. One would like to think that this booking link for a popular hotel (such as the One & Only Cape Town) would lead you straight to the Hotel’s main website, alas this is not always the case. Google Hotel Finder – in most cases – sends you to Online Booking sites like Booking.com, Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity instead of to the main hotel website.
Hotels that have been enjoying top rankings on Google’s organic results have started to see a huge decline in their traffic coming from Google. Travel aggregators who used to rank well are also seeing an impact on their revenue (much like the shopping comparison sites) as Google attempts to move towards a consolidation of the travel industry online.
So then how does Google decide when a Hotel or Online Travel Agency should rank higher in the results?
Read more: How does Google decide who should rank highest on Hotel Finder?
