Google announced this week that it is folding Hotel Ads buying into the Google Ads (formerly AdWords) platform with the introduction of a new campaign type. There is also a new Hotel Center for managing hotel price feeds.
This move is similar to the move Google made a few years ago to bring YouTube TrueView ad campaigns into AdWords. Hotel Ads have been around since 2010 with sponsored listings in Google Maps and later in Google Search results and managed in a separate ad platform. The service is available to individual hotel properties and online travel agents alike.
The new Hotel campaigns, a new option when creating a campaign in the Google Ads interface, are currently in testing with a few partners, such as Despegar.com and Koddi.
The campaigns continue to be feed-based, and a new Hotel Center is designed to make feed management and optimization easier. There are also plans to add more functionality to the hub to manage additional features like dynamic remarketing creatives.
“The existing Hotel Ads Center will be replaced with the new Hotel Center in phases,” writes Michael Trauttmansdorff, Google’s senior product Manager of Hotels, in the blog post. “We’re starting with the basics first, focusing on a better way to submit your hotel inventory and describe your hotel properties.”
Those interested in participating in the open Hotel ads beta or learning more can fill out the interest form.
The Hotel ads announcements were made at Google Marketing Live, an event for advertisers held in San Jose, California, this year. Check out our full coverage of the news from the event.