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There’s one question that every frequent traveller probably has an answer to: what’s the first destination you’ll explore when the COVID-19 pandemic ends?
Google knows that tourists are antsy to start preparing their post-pandemic travel plans, and travel companies are excited too. The search engine company cites these reasons for one noteworthy change they recently made to their trip-planning portal, Google Travel. Now, travel companies will be able to display booking links on the portal for free.
Google Travel shows photographs, pricing, and descriptions to accompany each booking link. Previously, travel companies would have to pay to have their links appear on the portal – these are called hotel ads. Google still offers hotel ads, but has now added a free option.
What’s the difference?
“No one can buy a better placement for free booking links,” according to Google, though “advertisers can bid to be ranked higher in the hotel ads section.” In other words, the paid ad option is a safer bet for travel companies to ensure their links will rank high.
Ultimately, Google says that users will have a wider access to booking options because of this change.
Google had previously made similar changes to Google Flights and Google Shopping, so it’s possible that we’ll continue to see the search engine unroll free options on its various web portals.
