Google Ads for hotels, lodges and villas

Defend your own name first

Guests who search your property's name are the closest to booking. Google's trademark policy does not restrict trademarks used as keywords, so booking platforms can bid on your hotel's name and appear above your own website.

A search campaign on your own name puts your site back at the top, with your direct rate and your own message. It is normally the first campaign we set up. Area and stay-type searches come next, aimed at the specific stays you sell and not at broad terms the platforms dominate. This is part of our Google Ads service.

Hotel campaigns: your rate in Google's hotel listings

When someone looks up a hotel, Google shows a booking module with rates from different sellers. Hotel campaigns put your direct rate in that list. According to Google Ads Help, these ads can appear on Google Search, Maps and YouTube and show photos, amenities, prices and a link to book.

They need more than an ordinary campaign:

In practice the integration partner is usually your booking engine or channel manager. So the first question is whether your booking system can send rates to Google. If it cannot, Hotel campaigns are not available to you until that changes.

Bidding has also changed. Google retired its commission-based bid strategies for hotel ads: they could not be used for new campaigns from 30 April 2024, and campaigns still using them stopped serving on 31 October 2024. The options Google now points to are target ROAS, cost-per-click bidding and Performance Max for travel goals. Advice about paying Google only a commission per stay is out of date.

Performance Max for travel goals

This is the hotel version of Performance Max: one campaign that runs across Google's channels, with an asset group for each property. Google Ads Help says it requires your Google Ads account to be linked to Hotel Center, and that the link is limited to accounts with no more than 100 hotels.

It can suit a single property or a small group. It gives less control over where ads appear than search campaigns do, so we run it alongside brand search, not instead of it.

Free booking links

Free booking links are unpaid listings in the same booking module. Google's Hotel Center help states that there is no cost for clicks, that no one can pay for a higher position, and that taking part in Hotel Ads or not does not affect how free links rank. It also notes that hotels using a reservation system may already be connected through their provider.

They are worth switching on before paying for anything. Our guide to Google free booking links explains how.

Tracking through the booking engine

A hotel booking is completed in the booking engine, not on the website. Whether the booking and its value come back to Google Ads depends on the engine. Some support it fully, some need extra setup and some do not support it.

We test this before any budget is spent, because a campaign that cannot see bookings cannot be judged. Where tracking works, you can compare the cost of a direct booking from ads with the commission on the same booking through a platform. See conversion tracking.

Seasonality and booking windows

Hotel budgets should follow when guests book, not when they stay. We plan spend around your booking window for each season, raise it ahead of the periods you need to fill, and pull it back for dates that are already full. Specials and packages get their own ads and landing pages.

How we work

Google Ads management is a monthly retainer based on scope. The account is set up in your name, and Google bills the ad spend directly to you. We do not guarantee results, and we tell you if a campaign is not paying for itself.

For how ads fit with your website and SEO, see our hospitality overview. To talk about your property, get in touch.