Google Hotel Ads

This page is about the menu SETTINGS->CHANNEL MANAGER->GOOGLE HOTEL ADS

Contents

1 What is Google Hotel Ads?

Google Hotel Ads allows you to showcase your hotel via adverts across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices on Google.

Certified Google Hotel Ads Integration Partners like Beds24 bid a commission on your behalf. Google will display the highest and the next highest bidder directly in the ad. The four next highest bidders will be shown after the guest clicks on "More".

If your commission bid is competitive, Google will provide a link to your direct booking page in their search results.

You only pay commission for confirmed bookings resulting from the search result, not pay per click etc.

2 Who can use Google Hotel Ads

Googles guidelines are that the property should have all the following:

• Rooms in which paying guests can stay
• A physical presence and fixed location that is open to the public
• A staffed front desk open during normal business hours
• A minimum stay requirement of no greater than 7 days

3 Setup

3.1 1. Matching

Before using the service Google must match your property with the information they already have.

This process may take Google a few weeks to complete.

Google will use your business listing so we recommend you check that this is complete and up to date with the same information you have in Beds24. If you do not yet have a business listing please create one.

1. Go to SETTINGS-PROPERTIES-DESCRIPTION and check you have entered

• Property Name
• City
• State
• Postcode
• Address - if you have multiple properties Google expects a different address for each property.
• Country
• Phone Number - if you have multiple properties Google expects a unique phone number for each property.
• Latitude 'Latitude' and 'Longitude' have to reflect the actual location of your property.

Google will not accept data which does not contain all of the above information.

2. Go to SETTINGS->CHANNEL MANAGER->GOOGLE HOTEL ADS and set 'Sycnchronise' = Notify so Google can match you.

3.2 Bidding

Once Google has matched you we can send your bids.

1. Choose a group of rooms

The rooms you are sending to Google should be your most economic double or twin rooms and have sell priority in SETTINGS-PROPERTIES-ROOMS-SETUP set to highest so it is at the top of the booking page. Dorms are not allowed.

Note: The Google Ad does not support multiple room types so use your best value room types to compete.

2. Set the maximum commission you are prepared to pay for bookings direct from Google hotel ads.

3.3 Commission

Commission is charged on completed bookings originating from the advertisement.

If deposit collection is used, the commission is only charged after the deposit collection completes.

These bookings have the referrer "GoggleHPA".

Google will charge their commission even if the guest cancels a booking or does not show up.

We recommend you use deposit collection at the time of booking and appropriate cancellation policies.

To bid you will need to have enough credit in your Beds24 account. We recommend maintaining enough credit to cover expected commissions plus a safety margin or setting up auto payments in SETTINGS-ACCOUNT BILLING. When you do not have enough credit in your account all ads may be turned off. Please note that your account might stop working if you do not have any credit in your account.

Beds24 will deduct the commission from your Beds24 account instantly a booking occurs. Payments to Google are made by Beds24, you are not required to pay Google directly. If required, currency conversion will be done at market rates at the time of booking to calculate the commission in your account currency rather than booking currency.

It is not always possible for us to bid at every level so your actual bid may be lower than your bid setting, in this case, you will be charged the lower bid commission. Your bid will not be higher than your bid setting.

Changes to bidding commissions can take some time to propagate through to Google, bookings with commission at the old bid level are possible until the change fully propagates.

If you are based in Germany or the EU and have not provided us with a valid EU Vat Id, the commissions will effectively also have VAT at your countries rate added.

3.4 Deposit Collection

In SETTINGS->CHANNEL MANAGER->GOOGLE HOTEL ADS there you can set options for deposit collection

• “Default” uses the “Booking Type” set in SETTINGS->PROPERTIES->BOOKING RULES
• “Initial Deposit Collected” hides all payment option (offline payments, credit card collection) which do not send an instant payment notification to Beds24 for Google.
• “Deposit Collection” is the option if you want deposit collection only for bookings from Google. To use this function go to SETTINGS->PROPERTIES->PAYMENT COLLECTION and set up payment collection as explained on the help page (click on HELP in the top right) but do not change your booking tye in SETTINGS->PROPERTIES->BOOKING RULES.

3.5 Landing page

The Beds24 booking page is opened when a guest click to book on Google.

3.6 Price

The price sent to Google is the price for 2 people booking on your direct Booking page.

If you have compulsory taxes or fees, these will be sent in addition to the price to create the effective end price.

Guests coming from Google will be shown this price by Google and expect to pay the same price on your booking page.

Note: An important part of your marketing strategy on Google is to make sure that your property has a well maintained profile on Google, with pictures, descriptions, etc.

4 FAQ

4.1 What is CPA?

CPA stands for cost per acquisition meaning you pay a commission per booking which is only paid when you receive a booking. This model is different to the regular CPC (cost per click) meta search model where you pay for each click regardless whether a booking is made.

4.2 What is the commission?

You can set the maximum commission you are prepared to pay.

4.3 How is the commission calculated?

Commission is calculated on the room price not including upsells (fees and taxes setup as upsells are exempt).

If you are in based in Germany or the EU and have not provided us with a valid EU Vat Id Vat will be added to the commission.

4.4 What happens with cancellations and no-shows?

Google will not refund commissions paid on cancelled bookings or no-shows. We recommend you use deposit collection to protect yourself from the risk.

4.5 Where are bookings made?

Google redirects to the hotels booking page or web site. Charges and all other matter related to the booking have to be handled by the hotel. By default the booking page is opened when a guest click to book on Google. If you want the booking to take place on your embedded booking page on your web site you can set a "Booking Redirect" to this page in SETTINGS->PROPERTIES->LINK.

4.6 How do I pay?

The invoicing of this system is centralised through Google partners such as Beds24. Commissions will be charged to your Beds24 account instantly when there is a new booking from Google. This means to bid you will need to have enough credit in your account. Currency conversion might be done when your account is charged.

4.7 What happens when I do not have credit in my Beds24 acccount?

Guests will not be able to book if you do not have credit in your Beds24 account to pay for the commission. If you have not already done so we recommedn you set up auto payments in SETTINGS -> ACCOUNT -> BILLING. Please make sure you select an amount. If you choose 'None' we can not charge your card. Commissions will be deducted in real time so a booking might trigger the auto top up.

4.8 How do I know that a booking originates from Google?

Google will charge the commission you bid on all bookings originating from Google. These bookings have the referrer "GoggleHPA".

4.9 How does Google know when a booking comes from Google Hotel Ads?

Google leaves a cookie in the user’s browser. If this user carries out a booking while the cookie is still active, the conversion is reported to Google when the booking reaches the Confirmed or New status, i.e. after deposit collection has succeeded. ]]