Google rolls out ticket booking links, ‘Things to do’ ads and an eco-certified badge for hotels
Google is introducing new organic and paid features for travel and leisure businesses, including ticket booking links and pricing in search results, new “Things to do” ads and an eco-certified badge for hotel listings, the company announced Wednesday.
Ticket booking links. In addition to showing general information when users search for attractions, such as the Statue of Liberty or Tokyo Tower, for example, Google will now also show booking links for basic admission and other ticketing options (when available).
The company also has plans for a wider rollout of this feature: “In the months ahead, we’ll also begin showing information and booking links for experiences in a destination, like wine tasting in Paris or bike tours in California,” the search engine said.
Ticket booking links can be promoted at no cost. Attractions, tours and activities operators that want to participate can learn more over at Google’s Help Center.
Introducing Things to do ads. Google is also introducing a new paid product for travel and leisure businesses: Things to do ads (shown below).
These ads will appear above the search results when users search for tours, activities and local attractions on Google Search. They show details such as images, reviews, pricing and include a booking link for the activity, and are shown to users based on their search terms, location and other related details.
Things to do ads are an automated format that use data from your inventory feed based on the ad group label. Advertisers can designate a budget and target users based on their country of residence and device type. Except for target impression share, all bidding strategies available for Search campaigns are also available for Things to do campaigns. Google’s Help Center has more details on how to get started with this new offering.
Eco-certified badges for hotel listings. Beginning this week, hotels that are certified for high standards of sustainability from certain independent organizations, such as EarthCheck or Green Key, will have an eco-certified badge next to their name, in the search results.
Additionally, users can view more information about a hotel’s sustainability efforts in the “About” tab of the hotel’s profile, as shown above. Hotel listing managers can add these attributes to their business profile by signing into Google My Business or by contacting Google My Business support.
