Google’s free hotel booking links arrive on Search and Maps
The expanded capabilities may be good news for hotels, but not so much for online travel agencies
Google is expanding its free hotel booking links to show on Search and Maps, the company announced Wednesday. The company is also adding reporting capabilities, support for hotel rates in Google Business Profiles and rolling out Local Posts to hotels as well.
Free hotel booking links expand to Search and Maps. In March 2021, Google started offering free listings within Google Hotel search. Now, the company is adding support for free hotel booking links on the Search results page and Google Maps. When a user clicks on these links, they’ll be taken to the hotel’s (or online travel platform’s) site where they can complete the booking.
New click reporting. Hotel owners can see how many people clicked on their free booking links via a new report in Hotel Center. The company plans to expand reporting to include impressions and booking value in the coming weeks.
Hotel rates in Google Business Profiles. Starting in April, individual hotels that meet eligibility requirements can manually add their rates to their Google Business Profile to participate in free hotel booking links.
