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  • Google Hotel Ads Testing New Local Three-Pack Entry Point

    Google Hotel Ads Testing New Local Three-Pack Entry Point

    When users search on Google for hotels at a destination, they are typically greeted with a result page that has a mixture of paid search results, organic search links, and the local three-pack that includes three hotels for the destination that they searched for. This local three-pack is the entry point for a large percentage of the volume that is driven through Google Hotels Ads.

    The local three-pack has existed with minimal updates for years. But now, that user experience and interface appears to be under a test from Google – with a handful of Koddi’s premier analysts participating to deliver only the best, fastest new insights for our clients. While the search engine result page (SERP) has not changed in a meaningful way, the next click out is bringing some users to a new UI that has clearly different priorities than the historic set up.

    Old Set-Up
    New Set-Up

    New Set-Up Versus Old Set-Up After a user selects a hotel from the three-pack, they may be greeted with a new landing page that has some distinct differences from the historic landing page. 

    This new landing page prioritizes the hotel’s location on the right-hand rail, shows additional hotels that match their original request on the left-hand side, and gives some minor visual tweaks to the hotel information panel. These updates to the right-hand rail showing the map are great additions for users that need to ensure that the hotel they are selecting is in the preferred part of the city that they are visiting. Previously, this map was available but slightly hidden under the Location tab of this landing page.

    This update could give users who are selecting hotels higher intent before they click on any advertiser, as they will be more assured that the location they have selected is in the right location. This also gives the user a better sense of what is surrounding the location. Is it near coffee shops? Shopping? Restaurants? All of these considerations can drive increased intent.

    The update on the left-hand rail provides great insight to the user about the price comparison of the location they clicked on compared to hotels that are nearby. Previously, when a user had selected their hotel, the only way to see nearby competitive hotels was scrolling down to the Similar Hotels or People Also Viewed sections, towards the bottom of the listing.

    This update could influence users to be more selective on Google prior to clicking out to an advertiser. Interestingly, when doing a broad destination search, we see this as an additional entry point for property promotion ads (PPA).

    Property Promotion Ads Entry Point

    Property Promotion Ads Entry Point What sets the PPA listings apart from the conventional entry points are the addition of the word “Ad” to the listing, as well as “view offer” instead of “view prices.” This update could potentially add even greater additional volume to property promotion ad listings, which have already been instrumental in Google Hotel Ads search volume growth over the past 24 months.

    The update to the actual hotel listing loses some of the prioritization towards imagery, by making the images a bit smaller. There are also fewer new tabs available, as these new tabs have been expanding into what was previously unused white space.

    In Conclusion This new entry point paves the way for higher intent users, greater selectivity among users, higher click-through rates and conversion rates, improved CPC, and more overall PPA traffic. Now is the time for savvy hotel marketers to optimize their strategies to make the most of these new opportunities.

    Your expert analyst team at Koddi will continue to monitor potential impacts to performance. Connect with the team to optimize this new feature for your properties today!

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  • Google Testing New Property Promotion Ads Experience

    Google Testing New Property Promotion Ads Experience

    Google is testing a new user experience (UX) that is designed to elevate consumers’ hotel searches when booking travel. In this new UX, some users are served a destination-level search, complete with Property Promotion Ads – even when searching for and clicking into a specific property’s availability page. Standard Hotel Ads Experience.

    In the standard metasearch experience, after a user searches for a hotel, a metasearch auction populates with participating advertisers for that auction based on the user’s search query.  The user could either click out to be redirected to an advertiser’s site via the “visit site” button, or continue shopping rates via the “check availability” or “view more” buttons.

    After clicking either of these, the user would be redirected to a prices page, where they could continue to adjust their check-in dates, guest size, etc., compare prices between advertisers, and view additional prices not shown in the prior auction.

    With Google’s latest PPA experiment, there’s no need to click away to find other hotels; additional hotel details are displayed next to the search results.  The New Property Promotion Ads Experience

    Currently with this test, when a user clicks on either the “check availability” or “view more” buttons, the user is redirected to a page that includes the standard metasearch auction for the property via a modal over the map results, and for the destination of the original property (e.g. hotels near New York Marriott Marquis).

    The results include both PPA and metasearch placements like what would be expected in a regular search. This means that both a PPA auction and metasearch auction for the searched hotel are both present simultaneously. From there, the user can continue as they normally would by either clicking on an advertiser for the searched hotel, or this modal can be closed (as shown in the example) and navigate via the map interface to discover new hotels and see updated promoted ads.

    What This Means for Travelers

    At a high level, travelers will benefit from this new experience by receiving more information about the area they plan to visit. While they will still be able to price shop for a specific property, or click through to a booking for that property in the same way they previously did, they will now also be able to explore alternative properties and compare prices for that area.

    What This Means for Hotels and Advertisers

    While this is currently only a test, there are a few implications should this new UX roll out across 100% of traffic. More hotels now appear in a search, meaning that it’s more possible for your hotel(s) or your competitor’s hotels to be the user’s final selection, as options are now present in addition to the originally searched hotel. A user can continue to click through your hotel, or a competitor may have a more appealing ad or property listing. 

    Curb Appeal Matters With competition now sharing the same page as your hotel, a user who may have intended to stay with their original searched hotel may be enticed by an advertiser with a PPA ad, or a hotel in the destination results.

    Whether you are trying to ensure you maintain your originally intended traffic, or gain new traffic from competitors, having the proper curbside appeal matters. This means ensuring you have everything for your property page setup correctly for the following:

    • If on PPA:
      • Ad Callouts
      • Ad Badging
    • Champion Image and Supplementary Images
    • Core Data
      • Hotel Name
      • Address
      • Phone Number
      • Hotel Website
    • Additional Information
      • Full List of Available Amenities
      • User Reviews
      • Hotel Details
    • Metasearch Typically, users who are interacting with metasearch ads have a clear idea of where they intend to stay. This means they are likely to continue to book their stay at their searched hotel. In other words, click-through rates for metasearch ads may not be severely impacted by this new test, as most users will continue to book where they originally searched.
    • Property Promoted Ads (PPA) One of the main impacts we have seen so far with this new UX is an increase in the overall eligible impressions for PPA. The total amount of PPA ads eligible to be served is getting a boost from this new real estate. Previously, PPA ads were only triggered via a specific route, a destination search and selecting “View More Hotels,” or going to Google Maps view directly. 

    It has yet to be determined what impact this new UX will have on the effectiveness of PPA ads. However, one indicator we will be monitoring is the user behavior for the two different pathways to this new experience: “Check Availability” clicks: These users are likely to be further along in their decision to book the originally searched property, and are primarily concerned with adjusting check-in and check-out dates at this point in their journey.

    We hypothesize that the overall click-through rate for PPA ads served after this click will be lower than the “View More” click traffic. “View More” clicks: These would be for the users who have scrolled through all of the initially advertised rates and then selected “View More.” They are likely to be more price sensitive and not as committed to booking the exact property from the original search. In these instances, the Property Promotion Ads and organic listings may be more impactful in the new experience and likely to see better overall click and conversion rates.

    Where PPA ads have historically been a tool to advertise further up in the funnel and sway a user’s decision to book a property that they had not previously considered, they now take on an additional purpose of either re-affirming a user’s decision by delivering an ad for the original search, or they have the potential to competitively conquest a user into selecting an alternative property.

    What’s Next?

    For now, this appears to be a brief test by Google that is only available to a subset of users. However, being prepared is the best course of action you can take as a hotel or advertiser today, as these changes can quickly happen.  Koddi’s best-in-class platform and reporting helps advertisers succeed in executing a successful digital marketing strategy.

    Reach out today to get started optimizing your spending with expert insights from your Koddi account manager.

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  • Google’s Enhanced CPC Bidding: What Hoteliers Need to Know

    Google’s Enhanced CPC Bidding: What Hoteliers Need to Know

    Google’s bidding enhancement, enhanced cost-per-click (eCPC), supports their Google Hotel Ads ecosystem. Google defines eCPC as a bid setting that is designed to increase return on ad spend (ROAS) by automatically adjusting the manual CPC bid. 

    This feature allows for auction-time adjustments to the bid (either an increase or decrease) based on Google’s proprietary insights on a user’s propensity to book. These types of bid adjustments are dissimilar from typical multipliers in that they are not accessible via the API or the Google Ads UI. 

    How Does eCPC Work?

    Enhanced CPC is assigned at the campaign level. Google then takes the effective bid that an advertiser has given and adjusts it based on how likely the user is to book. The advertiser still has complete control over the base bid and the entire repertoire of bid multipliers (stay length, device, user country, etc). 

    What Are the Results?

    In our initial tests, we’ve found that eCPC bidding improved ROAS by as much as 66% for our clients by lowering costs and slightly increasing bookings. Koddi helped select clients increase bookings by up to 12%, while reducing CPC by up to 34% with enhanced CPC bidding.

    What Does This Mean for Hoteliers?

    Hoteliers can leverage eCPC in combination with Koddi’s algorithms to improve: campaign efficiency (measured by ROAS), lead value generation (measured by CVR), or booking volume. This technology combines Koddi’s best-in-class insights into historic performance and makes real-time auction adjustments to ensure the appropriate bid is set at all times.

    Before you can begin using enhanced CPC, you must have Google conversion tracking enabled. Then you can select enhanced CPC as a bid strategy when you create a hotel campaign. See more details here.  If you’re a Koddi client and you’re interested in learning more about eCPC bidding, reach out to your account manager with any questions.

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.

  • Google Shifts Focus To Amenities in New Test UI for Hotel Search

    Google Shifts Focus To Amenities in New Test UI for Hotel Search

    Our team recently spotted a user interface test on Google Hotel Search, which places a greater focus on a property’s amenities.

    Zooming in on Featured Amenities

    In the current iteration of Google Hotel Search, a traveler’s search results include a listing of relevant properties that each feature a short, custom description about the hotel. In Google’s new testing UI, the hotel description is replaced with a list of eight featured amenities and a ninth entry titled “+X amenities”, where ‘X’ is replaced with the number of remaining amenities the property has to offer. When users hover over the “+X amenities” entry, a small pop-up expands to show them those amenities.

    The update also adds a visual flair when shoppers use the “Amenities” filter to define their needs. Once the filter is applied, the selected amenity items will display in bold for each property in search results.

    Support for Additional Images

    To help properties showcase their amenities, Google has also added support for four more preview images on the search results page. When users hover over a smaller thumbnail beneath the hotel’s main photo, the smaller image will replace the main photo. This feature allows the user to inspect a property in more detail before clicking

    How Hotels Can Prepare

    For now, Google prioritizes the amenity list order in the same manner for each property. From top to bottom priority: star rating, breakfast and its relative price, free wi-fi, parking and its relative price, indoor pool, air conditioning, pets allowed, fitness center, all-inclusive stay, bar, restaurant, and more. Hotels can prepare for this possible update by making sure that their amenities list is up to date. Additionally, there are a few potential impacts on search traffic to consider. With more information at their disposal pre-click, shoppers are more likely to click on the property they intend to book with.

    This increased volume of qualified leads could help bring in a higher CTR and CVR. Subsequently, when users are better able to find the listing they want without shopping around, hotels may see a drop in overall click and search volumes. Looking more long term, it is also possible we will see larger CPCs as the market adjusts to the increased worth of a high-conversion click.

    Want to stay up to date with the latest news in metasearch? Subscribe to Koddi’s monthly newsletter here.

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.

  • Google Introduces Organic Listings Into Hotel Ads

    Google Introduces Organic Listings Into Hotel Ads

    Starting today, we are seeing organic listings serve for all auctions on Google Hotel Ads. This was previously tested by Google over the past few months but appears to be rolled out for all users and search queries. This new interface reduces the number of paid listings down to four links and introduces a new “organic” section below the meta links. These organic listings are free.

    With this update, the top four spots will likely become more competitive as that section drives most of the volume. However, the organic listing section creates opportunities for many suppliers/OTAs to participate and stay visible without committing large budgets, although the volume could be limited. Similar to what we have seen in paid search, brands that are visible in both paid and organic links will typically see a bigger share of traffic and bookings.

    What Does it Take to Participate?

    Participating in the organic listings for hotels is a more involved process compared to traditional SEO. Here are the key requirements to have organic listings in hotel ads:

    • Be live on Google Hotel Ads
    • Have the hotel appropriately matched from hotel inventory
    • Have a rate available for the property and itinerary
    • Have any bid set for the property in Google Ads

    Advertisers that are currently live on Google will place in this new organic listing with minimal intervention. For advertisers that are not presently live on Google, it’s important to work with a rates and availability partner and a bid management partner to ensure appropriate coverage and performance reporting. The sort order of these organic listings is based on the combination of price, quality score, audience, etc. so ensuring appropriate price accuracy will be critical to the success of this new listing.

    Clicks on organic links are tracked separately from their paid counterparts. Unlike the paid links, the level of auction and query information available is significantly reduced. The reporting for organic clicks is available in the Hotel Ads Center (instead of the Google Ads UI) and gives insight into the hotel that was clicked and the date of the click. And Google will also support tracking to differentiate bookings from organic listings vs paid listings.

    Working with a bid management system like Koddi will allow you to easily see your organic vs paid activity and how each contributes to your campaign’s performance. If you have questions and want to learn more, contact us here. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest metasearch news.

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.

  • Webinar Replay: The Road to Travel Recovery

    Webinar Replay: The Road to Travel Recovery

    Although the travel industry has faced unparalleled challenges in 2020, there is a path forward for recovery in 2021. To share our support and insights with clients, partners, and friends in the industry, Koddi recently partnered with Google on a recovery webinar: The Road to Travel Recovery.  In the webinar, experts from Koddi and Google shared a roadmap for where we’ve been in 2020, how travel demand compared to 2019, and where to focus your marketing efforts in the days ahead. The presenters for this webinar included: Cliff Galitz, Partner Development Manager at Google; Blair Roche, Director of Client Services at Koddi; and Zach Rector, Associate Director of Client Services at Koddi. Sign up to watch the webinar on-demand and learn more about:

    • Hotel demand trends by region (2020 vs 2019)
    • The 5 behavioral phases observed during the pandemic
    • Changes in travel booking behavior
    • Where to focus your efforts in 2021
    • And how to monitor trends and let your data lead the way

    After you’ve watched the webinar, check out these additional resources from Koddi and Google:

    You may be interested in

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.

  • What’s New in Metasearch: Q2 2020

    What’s New in Metasearch: Q2 2020

    Q2 2020 will be one for the history books. As COVID-19 began to spread outside of APAC and Europe, travel around the globe came to a screeching halt. With that, we saw demand tumble to a low of over 80% down year-over-year.

    The travel sector was quick to respond and adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. Metasearch publishers, in particular, offered new features and tools to help suppliers continue to reach customers. Because of these initiatives, in part, large strides were made in demand recovery and by the end of the quarter, weekly demand levels were down ~45% YoY.

    Google

    Early on in Q2, Google made a major change to its metasearch offering by removing the minimum bid thresholds to appear in the auction. This was a huge benefit for the advertisers that remained live, and they were rewarded with historic return levels. The change was initially slated to run through July 1st but was extended through August 3rd. Google has announced that the minimum bid floor will be phased back in starting on August 3rd. Aside from the decline in hotel demand, one of the biggest challenges that travelers and travel providers faced in Q2 was trip cancellations. As consumer confidence in future travel waned, cancellation policies played a more important role in booking decisions. Because of this, Google introduced a “Free cancellation” filter in the hotel search UI to showcase properties that offered a free cancellation policy.

    In addition to this consumer-friendly change, Google also began offering an additional layer of protection against cancellations for advertisers via a pay-per-stay program. This commission model only charges advertisers for bookings that result in a completed stay, which allows the advertisers to remain within the auction without the fear of revenue loss from future cancellations. Google also completed the rollout of its sponsored listing feature in Q2. Property Promotion Ads, formerly known as Google Promoted Hotels, were made available to all advertisers after wrapping a successful trial program. Property Promotion Ads are a powerful tool for advertisers looking to gain incremental bookings.

    Tripadvisor

    Tripadvisor also offered advertisers a level of cancellation protection by rolling out its own pay-per-stay commission structure. Similarly, this allows auction participants to only pay for consumed reservations. The publisher also added extra value for travel-wary consumers by adding both “free cancellation” and “properties taking safety measure” filters to the interface.

    The popular Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements product was enhanced in Q2 when it shifted to a format where advertisers only pay for external clicks. Internal clicks include clicks to the property image, property name, or reviews, while an external click is on the price or View Deal button and results in the user leaving the Tripadvisor site. In addition, Tripadvisor updated the Sponsored Placement ads to be exclusive to the hotelier when they are the winning advertiser rather than showing additional rates from OTAs.

    Trivago

    Trivago has included a “value indicator” feature in its UI. According to the site, the value score takes into account “availability, past prices, similar stays, and more” to assign one of four values to the winning bid-offer: okay value, average value, great value, or excellent value.

    Similar to other publishers, trivago also includes a callout on searches with links providing more information about travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

    Trivago made the announcement in Q2 that they will also be introducing a CPA model, which is expected to be similar to the Tripadvisor and Google commission formats. This feature is tentatively set to launch in August.

    Kayak

    Kayak launched a resource page in Q2 with detailed information regarding the impact of COVID-19 on all areas of travel from hotels and flights to rental cars and safety policies. This helpful site includes up-to-date information on travel restrictions both globally and a detailed state-by-state guide for the U.S. As with the other publishers, Kayak also offers a “free cancellation” filter as well as important travel information links for destination-level searches.

    These are just a few of the highlights in metasearch publisher updates from this past quarter. The common thread that connects them is a commitment to removing barriers to both advertising and traveling during COVID-19. To stay up to date with announcements and changes from our publisher partners, subscribe to Koddi’s monthly newsletter.

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  • What Are Google’s Property Promotion Ads?

    What Are Google’s Property Promotion Ads?

    After several months of testing with select partners, Google has rolled out a beta version of its premium ad placement product and renamed it from Google Promoted Hotels to Property Promotion Ads.

    What are Property Promotion Ads?

    The Property Promotion Ads product introduces a new way for hoteliers to appear in the top position of a user’s hotel search results. Promotional ad listings are shown anytime a traveler submits a search for a hotel destination without specifying a specific property name (e.g. “hotel in Dallas, TX”). While metasearch is traditionally utilized to reach travelers near the bottom of the funnel, Property Promotion Ads unlocks access to users higher in the funnel, allowing advertisers to introduce their brand to an entirely new customer base.

    Where Do Property Promotion Ads Appear?

    On desktop searches, Property Promotion Ads listings will appear in the first two positions; while on mobile searches, those same two listings will appear staggered somewhere among the first page of results. The examples below show results for the search, “hotel in Dallas, TX.” The desktop experience reveals two promoted ads at the top of the search results. When we entered the same search on mobile, the promoted ad for Motel 6 appeared in the fifth position and the Extended Stay America ad served in the ninth position.

    Property Promotion Ads on Mobile

    How Do Property Promotions Ads Work?

    Property Promotion Ads feature one important auction dynamic difference over the former Google Promoted Hotels platform. Previously, through Google Promoted Hotels, Google would determine the winner of a promoted placement auction using an advertiser’s metasearch campaign base bid and promoted hotels bid.

    The highest effective bid between the two would then determine which of the advertiser’s campaign budgets was spent. In theory, this allowed advertisers a more flexible approach to promoted placement bidding, however, in practice this potentially caused confusion for advertisers who wanted to keep separate promoted placement and metasearch campaign budgets.

    With Property Promotion Ads, if there is a Property Promotion Ads bid set, only the advertiser’s promoted placement bid is considered in the auction, making monitoring and budgeting more straightforward.

    Getting Started

    The arrival of Property Promotion Ads is especially timely as hotel partners continue to search for high visibility opportunities during the COVID-19 crisis, when every booking counts. By maintaining continuous visibility through promotional placements, advertisers now have access to one of the most powerful and direct brand value-add tools ever offered through Google Hotel Search. Koddi partnered with Google to include Property Promotion Ads functionality natively within the Koddi platform. By working with Koddi, advertisers are empowered to make bid adjustments and measure uplift and incrementality in their promoted campaigns.

    Our team is constantly on the lookout for changes in the metasearch space. To stay up to date on changes to major metasearch publishers like Google, subscribe to our newsletter.

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.

  • Google Introduces Free Cancellation Filter for Hotel Search

    Google Introduces Free Cancellation Filter for Hotel Search

    Traveling during COVID-19 can be a difficult task to navigate. Between mandatory quarantines, shifting government positions on travel, and concerns for personal safety, it can induce stress not knowing whether or not you will be able to actually realize your vacation and make it to the hotel. Google has now introduced a “Free Cancellation” filter on its Google Hotel Ads product. This filter will remove any hotel in the search area that does not offer free cancellations and will remove any advertiser who does not have cancellable rates.

    What Is the Free Cancellation Filter?

    When a user searches for a hotel on Google’s Hotel Search, a new ‘Free cancellation’ button appears in the filtering system. Historically, users have been able to filter results based on star rating, price, amenities, and brand; now users are able to filter these results based on whether or not they can cancel their booking for free.

    Free Cancellation as a Hotel Filter

    Additionally, once a user has selected an individual hotel they can filter by cancellable rates only. If the user has made it to the hotel page from a view where “Free Cancellation” was active, this filter will remain. If the user did not have that setting checked, they are able to update it and the advertiser list will shift.

    Free Cancellation as an Advertiser Filter 

    How to Ensure Your Ad Still Serves

    Google grabs the data for whether or not the rate is cancellable in the transaction messages of your rates and availability feed (the rates need to be marked as refundable). More details on how to set this up can be found here. The refundable element needs to dictate whether or not the rate is refundable (binary value) and how many days the rate is refundable. If you’re offering free cancellations, it’s crucial to test and make sure that all elements are working properly so that you don’t remove yourself from travelers’ search results.

    Get the latest updates on metasearch publisher changes like this one from Google by subscribing to the Koddi newsletter.

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    Don’t let your brand get lost in the noise. Partner with Koddi to unlock the power of commerce media and transform the way you engage with your customers. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate complexities and develop a strategy that drives results — no matter what industry – in as little as 45 days.