While searching for hotels on Google Hotel Ads, users may find a new experience that shows additional similar properties and this experience appears to have replaced the previous view of 'People also search for' with a massive facelift.
From what we can tell, similar hotels shown are no further than 0.75 miles away and are within a 1-star rating of the initially searched hotel. The most impactful change of the updated user interface is callouts that show the same star rating hotel, in a similar area, for a less expensive daily rate.
When Does it Appear on Desktop?
We ran multiple searches to determine what would trigger the experience, and found that the experience would trigger after both specific hotel searches and broad generic searches like “hotels in Dallas.”
The most significant change with this update occurs when the user sees the same starred hotel in the same area at a lower price. This behavior will still happen even if you search for a specific hotel.
What Does this Mean for Metasearch Advertisers?
The updated desktop experience could encourage users to search for additional hotels before selecting their final location. This activity could impact the campaign in two significant ways.
- Decrease click-through rate. A slight decrease in click-through rate (percentage of users who click on your metasearch ad after viewing) but a slight increase in conversion rate. The reduction in click-through rate would likely occur due to users searching through additional hotel options before selecting their desired hotel. This decline should lead to advertisers experiencing a decrease in non-converting traffic.
- Improve conversion rate. This experience could take users further down the purchase funnel, meaning they may be more likely to book if they do click through.
In addition, hotels that are not competitive with their peer-set will see traffic divert from their property. Similar properties that are nearby, less expensive, or have more compelling accommodations will win out. Managing price competitiveness will become even more critical with this update. Uncompetitive properties should expect lower click-through rates, lower conversion rates, and fewer bookings. On the flip side, competitive properties will benefit from this shift.
Next Steps
As always, having a granular view into campaign performance will be critical for monitoring the impact of these changes. Google highly values the user experience, and if this change positively improves that experience, we can expect more moves like this to come.
If you’re interested in learning more about changes to Google Hotel Ads, check out our free Guide to Hotel Campaigns on Google Hotel Ads.
