Google Hotel Ads Google Hotel Ads management that puts your direct rate next to Booking.com and Expedia.
Many guests have already chosen your hotel when they search its name on Google. Then they check the price. Google shows a price box with the online travel agencies (OTAs) and, if you are set up, your own website. We make sure your rate is there, set bids by market and travel dates, and report every booking it brings in.
How Google Hotel Ads work
Three ways your hotel can show in Google’s price box.
-
Paid
Hotel Ads
Ads in the hotel price box on Search, Maps and Google Travel. You pay when a guest clicks through to book.
-
Free
Free booking links
Unpaid listings in the same price box. Google ranks them by usefulness to the guest, and bids have no effect.
-
Official site
A label for your own website
Guests see which link books directly with you. It often gets the click when your price matches the OTAs.
-
15%
Booking.com’s average commission
Booking.com’s own figure. Every booking that comes direct from the price box keeps that share with you.
What you need to take part
Four things that have to work before you bid.
Hotel Ads are now paid per click. Google retired pay-per-stay commission bidding for new campaigns on 30 April 2024 and for existing ones on 20 February 2025 (source: Google Ads Help). Bidding now runs on return on ad spend, manual cost per click or Performance Max for travel goals.
-
A price feed
Your live rates and availability, sent to Google’s Hotel Center by your booking engine or an integration partner. Since 30 September 2026 this is the only way to show rates (source: Google Hotel Center Help).
-
A Hotel Center account
It holds your property details and price accuracy reports, and links to Google Ads for paid campaigns.
-
Booking tracking with values
Google’s automated bidding needs each booking and its full value sent back. Without it, you are bidding blind.
-
A booking page that converts
The click lands on your booking engine. If the rate differs or the page is slow on a phone, the guest goes back to the OTA.
What we do
We run your Hotel Ads like a booking channel.
We judge each campaign by the bookings it brings and what they cost. Then we compare that with the commission the same stays would have paid an OTA.
-
Feed and account check
We confirm your rates reach Google, fix price mismatches flagged in Hotel Center, link it to Google Ads and turn on free booking links.
-
Bids by market and dates
Guests from different countries book at different times and for different lengths of stay. We set bids by country, device, length of stay and how far ahead guests book.
-
Bookings tracked to the euro
Every booking from Hotel Ads and free booking links is tracked with its value in Google Ads and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Bidding then works from real revenue.
-
Monthly report in plain numbers
Bookings, revenue, cost per booking and commission kept, next to your OTA figures, every month.
The first 90 days
From feed check to bids set for next season.
-
Days 1–30
Check and connect
- Price feed and Hotel Center audit
- Price accuracy issues fixed
- Booking tracking with values verified
- Free booking links live
-
Days 31–60
Launch
- Hotel Ads campaign live in your main markets
- Brand campaign alongside it
- Booking page tested on a phone
- First cost-per-booking report
-
Days 61–90
Scale
- Budget moved to the markets that book
- Bids set for the next season’s booking window
- Decision on Performance Max for travel goals
- Plan for the next quarter
Case studies
Ad spend, measured in direct bookings.
Frequently asked
Google Hotel Ads questions we answer every week.
Short answers. We go into detail on the free Hotel Ads check.
The hotel price box Google shows on Search, Maps and Google Travel when someone looks at a hotel. It lists the hotel’s rate from different booking sites. With Hotel Ads, your own website is one of them, labelled “Official site”.
You pay per click on paid Hotel Ads. Free booking links cost nothing. Google retired pay-per-stay commission bidding in February 2025. Most independent hotels start with a modest monthly budget in their two or three main markets. Our management fee is fixed, from €2,500 a month, with no percentage of ad spend.
Both appear in the same price box. Free booking links are unpaid and ranked by Google on usefulness. Paid Hotel Ads let you bid for a higher spot. Both need the same price feed, so setting up one gets you most of the way to the other.
Most booking engines can send rates to Google, either directly or through an integration partner. We check yours in the free Hotel Ads check and tell you what has to be switched on.
Google stopped sourcing hotel rates on advertisers’ behalf. Hotels whose rates came from that feature stopped showing in Hotel Ads, unless they set up their own price feed through Hotel Center or an integration partner. OTA prices for the same hotel kept showing.
Free booking links are worth it for almost every hotel. Paid Hotel Ads pay off when your direct rate is at least as good as the OTAs’ and your booking page works well on a phone. If not, we fix those first.
Google Hotel Ads
See where your rate shows on Google, and where it doesn’t.
Book a free Hotel Ads check. We look at your price feed, Hotel Center and booking tracking, and tell you what it would take to win more of the price box.
We are obsessed with direct bookings · Fixed fee, no percentage of ad spend · Every booking tracked
Let’s talk revenue
Book your free direct‑booking analysis.
45 minutes with a senior strategist. We model your revenue leaks live and leave you a one-page plan — whether you hire us or not.
- A working session with no pitch deck
- You talk to a senior strategist by name
- You keep the plan either way
Daniel Laurean · Growth Consultant EMEA
Replies personally, usually within 24 hours