Hotel Metasearch

Hotel metasearch is a tool that enables travellers to access real-time information about hotels from various sources. It allows them to compare prices and availability in one convenient view.

Hotels can use specific metasearch sites to ensure their offerings are displayed to motivated travellers who search for key terms and phrases. For example, if someone is looking for a hotel in New York City for three nights, a metasearch engine will display a range of hotels with their corresponding prices from different booking channels or hotel websites.

Hotel meta search is primarily used as a comparison tool, showing results from OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia as well as results from hotel websites or other accommodation providers.

An OTA, or online travel agency, is a booking site where travellers can choose and pay for their accommodation. However, travellers only have access to hotels that have chosen to list on that particular site.

Another difference is that the commission hotels pay through a metasearch site are generally lower than an OTA while being just as popular, presenting a budget friendly option to invest in.

Hotel metasearch represents a huge opportunity for accommodation providers to increase reservations and revenue. Using hotel metasearch marketing offers the following benefits for your business:

• Be where travellers are searching: Metasearch opens your hotel up to a large, broad, audience that you might not have been discovered by if you simply list on a few select OTA channels.
• Be targeted with your messaging: Highlight particular features or deals on your listings that will be most relevant to your ideal guest segments.
• Be cost-effective: Your marketing budget can be optimised so you are paying less to win bookings than you might on an OTA.
• Be booked quickly: Travellers searching on metasearch are almost ready to make a booking decision, given they are comparing prices and amenities.
• Boost direct bookings: Unlike on an OTA, travellers may have direct access to your own website via metasearch and will often complete their booking on your hotel booking engine, resulting in more profit.
• Better brand exposure and reputation: Often your reviews will also be listed alongside your property’s profile on metasearch, strengthening your position if you have an existing positive reputation.

Marketing on hotel metasearch allows travellers to compare hotel room rates, based on a search term such as a destination or travel dates. Hotel metasearch platforms will then deliver results from various online travel agencies (OTAs like Airbnb and Hotels.com) and other booking sites that meet their requirements, all in one place. Some hotel listings often aggregate guest reviews, photos, amenity information and in some cases, policies too.

Traditional metasearch started off with a business model that was pay-per-click (PPC), where hoteliers and OTAs could bid for the best ad placement. Depending on the metasearch site’s structure, the booking sites offer a certain fee per click, fee per impression, or a percentage of booked revenue, with the site’s that place the highest bids dominating top spots on the listing. Marketers can pay for a prime placement and encourage users to book a hotel stay via their platform. You may find that the featured listings are not the cheapest rates but appear because they pay the most for the placement.

Google Hotels, previously Google Hotel Finder, and TripAdvisor have driven metasearch in a different direction in recent years. Google and TripAdvisor are offering instant booking options instead of relying solely on PPC advertising. They’re relying more heavily on a commission per booking model. Through instant booking on hotel metasearch sites, guests can book your rooms without being directed and redirected to all corners of the Internet. When travellers are continuously redirected, they can become frustrated and confused, that could lead to a lack of trust in booking and in most cases, they will abandon the booking entirely to seek out another option.

Here’s an example of how you might market your hotel on metasearch:

• You’re an independent hotel combining luxurious comfort amidst a bustling city environment.
• You choose the most popular metasearch sites like Google and Trivago.
• You want to target business travellers who are looking for upscale stays.
• You choose to bid on terms such as ‘business travel’, ‘corporate hotel’, or ‘CBD accommodation’.
• You highlight key amenities in your listing such as high speed wifi, meeting rooms and work spaces, and ultra comfortable rooms to unwind.
• You include competitive packages that include buffet breakfast or airport shuttle services.
• You promote a loyalty program to incentivise bookings and nurture long term guests.

There are a few major players when it comes to hotel metasearch platforms. When looking into where you should advertise your hotel, there are a few options to look at:

• Google Hotel Ads
• TripAdvisor
• HotelsCombined
• Trivago
• Skyscanner
• Kayak
• WeGo

It should be noted that in general, sites such as Kayak that offer combined rates (accommodation + flights), aren’t as successful at providing hotels with a high share of top ad placements.

Google hotel metasearch, or Google Hotel Ads, surfaces hotel ads to help users evaluate the pricing and booking options available to them. Google Hotel Ads (GHA) displays your hotel information such as availability and rates on Google Maps, Search and Assistant.

Hotel Ads give you the power to control what appears below your own search results. In fact, you can change the images that appear when a user searches for properties like yours, and you also can incorporate interactive tours into your display.

Google does have the advantage of travellers carrying out searches within its own search engine, making it much easier for them to present their price comparison tool to the end user. In comparison to other metasearch engines, such as Trivago, users are more likely to end up using Google Hotel Ads without realising it due to the subtle integration Google has developed directly into search results.

Read our full guide to learn more and understand the major advantages to getting your hotel involved with GHA.

Yes, you can capture direct bookings via hotel metasearch options such as Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, TripAdvisor, and more. When travellers enter a query in metasearch, they are presented with a list of relevant options. If you have managed to optimise your listing and bids so that you appear to them, the users can choose to visit your website and book your hotel directly. This allows you to have more control of your guest relationship and boost profit in the form of upsells, extras, and packages.

When choosing a hotel metasearch service to partner with, there’s a few features that hold high importance:

• Strong reach: It’s imperative that your tech partner can connect you with the biggest and most popular metasearch sites such as Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, and TripAdvisor.
• Easy and simple management: On your end, the process should be to ‘set and forget’, without having to worry about your own bidding management. Simply set your rates, rooms, and packages to entice guests. You should also be able to distribute your inventory across every channel at the same time, so you don’t have to spend wasted time manually updating inventory and reservations.
• Direct booking integration: Many guests will want to book directly with you when they discover your hotel on metasearch. Your metasearch management platform should allow for seamless booking engine integration so you can own the guest relationship and boost profit.
• Analytics and reporting: Make sure there’s real-time transaction records and reporting that ensure you can easily reconcile bookings and fees.

Yes, both SiteMinder products Demand Plus and Metasearch Manager extends your hotel’s distribution to Google Hotel Ads, Trivago and Tripadvisor.