Google Changing How We Market Hotel Rates
Consumers’ vacations might not change, but the way they shop for them certainly will. Over the past several years consumers have utilized third party intermediaries such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity to aid their vacation planning research. Why? It aggregates results providing a simple solution where the consumer is able research various options and compare. Consumers love it, and marketers have learned to work with these tools to benefit their hotel brands. Well, now there is a new trip-planning tool joining the list and hotel marketers should take note.
Say hello to Google Maps price comparison. Currently in testing, this model will allow users to enter location and dates of their vacation in the maps section and receive multiple prices on selected sponsored listings. This will not only allow for the consumer to compare the different online travel agent listings, but also the direct supplier (eg the hotel itself). In the end, this will make it even easier to price shop, and will bring further transparency to the industry. Assuming this gains favorable traction, the next step would be real-time pricing in sponsored Google results. This would revolutionize the way hotels market. Get ready for a second round of price wars online.
What does this mean to marketers? Plan to maintain parity – all your prices should be the same on all your different platforms. Plan to add a line item to your media plan alongside your PPC budget 
for Google Maps placement. These are sponsored listings so they won’t be free. If done correctly this tool can help capture additional market share, help drive traffic to the hotel’s websites and help maintain RevPar (aka revenue per room availability). With price battles waging themselves online in the form of last minute deals, weekend getaway sales, and the opt-in to travel discounts, users are able to find deals all over the Internet. At some point during the research process they will consult the search giant, so marketers will need to be prepared for change.
Imagine where this could go next. With adoption rates of Smart phones growing, integration between the above model and Google Goggles could have you planning your stay with a simple snap of a photo. Snap a picture of a street sign and get results on local hotel prices in the area. Might just be the best invention yet for the traveling backpacker.
Google Rules! I think Google should be the next president.
Google leads. Everyone follows.
You said it Saya. Google is awesome. You know it’s funny though that it actually took Google this long to incorporate this feature into maps. I was actually reading in other comments that AXSES introduced http://bookable-maps.com a couple of years ago as part of its interactive advertising technology.
Slow but sure. Ya heard?
It likes Apple’s tablet vision in 1990’s and today
it’s the ipad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPS1DMlzz0M
[...] have talked a bit about hotel marketing before, and another area where hotels can get a public relations boost is by offering unique deals [...]
This is not consumer friendly as it appears and is really misleading. The rates shown are from Travelocity, Expedia and Hotels.com. They are static and not necesarily up to date. Worse yet, the rates often have restrictions and penalties that are not displayed which are material to consumers. This advertising of price is misleading and also anti-competitive. Google needs to get out of their advertiser’s businesses and make sure it has a fair playing field.
Even though this will definitely be a handy tool, we are all aware that we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. Relying on Google for everything is not the best road to take. For years now, the online travel sites have done quite a good job in helping travelers plan their trips so why change that overnight. Remember, competition is good for consumers.