Google Hotel Ads Frequently Asked Questions

What is it?

• Google Hotel Ads is a paid service that redirects traffic and bookings to the hotels website.
• It allows hotels to show real-time rates and availability on the Google Search results page and on Maps. Travellers love these listings because they can compare prices from a number of booking channels on one page.
• Special partner of RoomRaccoon, with a reduced commission percentage of 12% per stay (not per reservation). 

What does it mean and how does it work?

• Google displays its booking engine in the list of accommodation available to travellers, along with other channels like Booking, Expedia, etc.
• It redirects travellers directly to its own booking engine and the reservation is made there, without any other intermediary holding the information for you or communicating with them on your behalf.
• Valid for hotels with a minimum stay of less than 7 days

How does the payment of the commission work?

• Google calculates the amount of commission for each booking 1 month after your check-out date, sends RoomRaccoon the commission charge and RoomRaccoon pays it. RoomRaccoon includes the commission in your next invoice.
• Google only charges the commission if a booking actually happens. 
  • If the booking is cancelled or a no-show, you do not have to pay the commission, even if it is a non-refundable rate that has already been paid.
  • To avoid paying the commission for these cancelled/no-show bookings, you will need to change the booking status to cancelled by the actual check-in date. If it is booked 1 day or more later, Google considers the booking to have taken place and will charge you the commission.
  • Exception: if it is non-refundable and payment is received without the guest being refunded, Google will still charge a commission.

My website rates are already low and now I need to pay a commission on them, what do I do?

Find out how to implement a discount code permanently on your website here.

How do I generate a report showing how many bookings I’ve received through Google Hotel Ads for a specific period?

For information on creating reports for Google Hotel Ads and all other external Booking Channels, click here.

How do I find bookings created via Google Hotel Ads for a certain stay period?

1. In the Calendar section
2. Select the Reservation List tab.
3. Enter the dates you want to see.
4. Select Google Hotel Ads from the "booking source" option. This will show you the bookings created through GHA for that specific period.

Benefits:

• Increase your visibility on a global scale
• Increased flow to your website and booking engine
• You can advertise your best rates
• Guests who discovered your hotel through Google Hotel Ads tend to go directly to your booking engine for second and subsequent bookings
• Increased revenue for your hotel and build your brand awareness
• Lower commissions compared to all other booking channels like Booking, Expedia, etc.
• Commission per stay, not per booking
• Increase visibility without paying huge commissions compared to other OTAs
• Elimination of an intermediary
• Manage bookings directly in PMS
• Easy price comparison between your booking engine and all your external channels

Good to know

• Google will not reflect any changes that are made to reservations if they are made after the dates of the reservation. 
• The original booking amount is the commissionable amount, and add-ons added to the booking will not count towards the commission calculation.
• If the booking has its dates changed, Google will calculate the commission according to the change made, either with additional or reduced nights.