Excerpt from SearchEngineJournal
A new tutorial on the Google Ads YouTube channel goes over easy, step-by-step instructions for setting up free hotel booking links.
This video can help Google Ads users learn how to take advantage of a feature the company launched within the past year.
Google announced free booking links for hotels in March 2021, expanding opportunities for small boutiques to large chains across the country.
These listings provide free traffic directly to your site and provide live updates and availability. With the additions to this link type, free booking links can be used in conjunction with hotel ads to maximize exposure.
What Are Free Booking Links?
Free booking links currently show on Google when a user searches hotel prices and availability and looks at the details of a particular hotel.
A key benefit of these links is they allow you to send users directly to a page of your choosing.
When travellers search for a hotel in Google and click on “check availability,” it takes them to a page listing all options to book the selected hotel.
How Do Free Hotel Booking Links Work?
There are a few key differences to free booking links and paid booking links.
A hotel ad is a paid link, where the list is ranked according to Google’s ad auction and algorithm.
Free booking links are unpaid links that are ranked according to how useful they are to users.
Google sometimes shows free booking links alongside of paid hotel ads.
What Do Hotel Ads Look Like?
Free booking links display similar information to paid hotel ads. They display:
- Your site name (or hotel name)
- Room rate for dates selected
- Official site badge (if you are the hotel owner, direct supplier, or technology provider)
How To Set Up Free Booking Links
If you are a Hotel Center partner, you may already be showing up for free booking links.
Hotels are automatically eligible to show free booking links by meeting the following requirements :
- Existing Hotel Center partner
- Currently participating in Hotel Ads
Any property that has a bid, available rates, and a dedicated landing page in existing hotel campaigns are eligible to show.
If you are a hotel or hotel partner, and have not set up a Hotel Center account, that is the first place to start. There are multiple guides depending on the hotel role, including:
- Hotel owner
- Connectivity partner
- Agency
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