Book On Google For Hotels To Shut After Low Take-up
Google will shut down its “Book on Google” option for hotels as of May 25 due to low usage from both partners and consumers.
Google launched the option in 2015 to facilitate transactions for hotels and online travel agencies whose sites were not optimized for mobile web, which at the time was beginning to overtake desktops for internet usage.
Partners that offer the Book on Google link remain the merchant for the booking, but the reservation and payment information is captured in a Google-hosted form and then passed directly to the partner.
“When we first launched Book on Google for hotels, we wanted to give users an easier way to complete their bookings, while also driving more conversions for our partners,” says a Google spokesperson.
“But over time, we’ve seen that most people prefer to book directly on partner websites, whether through the hotel itself or with an OTA. So this May, we’ll be shutting down the Book on Google feature for hotels as we continue investing in broader improvements to our hotel search product.”
Nearly one year ago, in March 2021, Google eliminated fees for hotel booking links, so hotels and online travel agencies can appear in the price comparison tool without the need to be a paid advertiser.
