Hotels Knowledge Panels are now displaying the hotels own booking link and prices in the Knowledge Panel. Traditionally this space was reserved for OTA’s (online travel agents) that used AdWords and then charged the hotel a commission based on booking.

Although this is through an AdWords framework called Google Hotel Ads, it is the first time I have seen it in the UK displayed for individual hotels.

 

 

No Structured Data Required

 

In the dozen or so sites checked, there was no recommended structured data on page that Google recommends including, such as : potentialAction @type: ReserveAction and the entry point for the reservation or Book a Room to begin.

I did not expect there to be, because this is through Google Hotel Ads, but I thought I would check, if was a criteria.

 

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
   "@context":"http://schema.org",
   "@type":"Hotel",
   "@id":"http://aleenta.example.com/",
   "name":"Aleenta Phuket Hotel & Spa",
   "address":{
     "@type":"PostalAddress",
     "addressLocality": "Phang Nga",
     "addressRegion": "Phuket",
     "postalCode": "82140",
     "streetAddress": "33 Moo 5, Takua Thung, Khok Kloi",
     "addressCountry": "Thailand"
},
   "geo":{
   "@type":"GeoCoordinates",
   "latitude":40.709312,
   "longitude":-74.007136
},
   "telephone":"+19172423826",
   "potentialAction":{
   "@type":"ReserveAction",
   "target":{
   "@type":"EntryPoint",
   "urlTemplate":"https://www.example.com/reserve?merchantId=20373","actionPlatform":[
   "http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform",
   "http://schema.org/IOSPlatform",
    "http://schema.org/AndroidPlatform"
]
},
   "result":{
   "@type":"LodgingReservation",
   "name":"Book Room"
  }
 }
}
</script>

 

 

Google Hotel Ads

 

To use hotel ads you can either use a booking engine that is already partnered with Google or connect directly with Google.

 

 

There seem to be most well known booking engines already partnered with Google and even a few of the lesser well known ones. www.google.com/ads/hotels/

To connect directly your developer will need to integrate your data with Google : https://developers.google.com/hotels/

 

Hotel Ads work within the AdWords framework and not commission based as with OTA’s. So if you are already using AdWords this may be another avenue for you to explore.

In the case studies listed, Premiere Inn captured 40% more new customers using Google Hotel Ads.

 

 

Cautionary Note:

Whilst looking at sites that were already displaying their prices and booking info in the knowledge panel, I did come across a few sites that made a point of displaying, “Best Rate Guaranteed”, when some OTA’s were listing slightly cheaper prices.

So double, triple check your prices displayed, if you are going to be displaying a guarantee like this.