Pranavi Agarwal, Skift Senior Research Analyst, delves into Google Hotels' dominance, revealing which OTAs bid for bookings. Highlighting Google's role as a meta search engine, the podcast discusses its impact on online travel agencies and direct sites, its introduction of organic auction for travel listings, and its influence on the industry globally.
Booking holdings and Expedia groups dominate Google's sponsored results, showcasing their reliance on Google for bookings.
Google's introduction of organic search results has democratized online travel, allowing smaller OTA sites to gain visibility.
Deep dives
Google's Impact on Online Travel Agencies and Hotel Bookings
Google's dominance in the online travel industry, particularly with the rise of Google Hotels, is affecting online travel agencies (OTAs). By becoming a major meta-search engine, Google is outcompeting OTAs like Book and Expedia, who spend billions in advertising on Google each year. Through web scraping, it was found that booking holdings and Expedia groups dominate Google's sponsored results, especially in the US, showcasing their reliance on Google for bookings.
Google's Strategy and Introduction of Organic Auction
Google's introduction of organic search results, in addition to sponsored results, offers free listings and has democratized online travel by providing more visibility to smaller OTA sites. While sponsored results are dominated by larger OTAs, the organic results have allowed for a diverse range of distributors to compete for bookings on Google. Google's prioritization of direct sites in organic search results highlights a shift towards direct bookings and improved user experience.
Regional Variances and Competition in Online Travel
Analysis across regions like Europe, Asia, and the Middle East shows differences in hotel supply and online distribution landscapes. The fragmentation in Eastern markets with more independent hotels leads to greater reliance on OTAs for bookings compared to branded hotels. Google's emphasis on direct sites, especially in Eastern regions, signals a strategic move to promote direct bookings and offer a fair playing field for a variety of distributors, challenging the dominance of large OTAs.
Google Hotels is the largest and most comprehensive metasearch engine in travel. It is a core part of the online travel ecosystem but remains a black box. So Skift Research did an analysis of thousands of hotel listings on Google to learn which online travel agencies (OTAs) and direct sites are bidding for bookings – and at what prices. Seth and Sarah discuss our exclusive findings with the report's lead author, Skift Senior Research Analyst Pranavi Agarwal.
Read part 1 of our deep dive into Google Travel here: https://research.skift.com/report/a-deep-dive-into-google-travel-part-i-u-s-hotel-distribution/
Presented by BrandUSA
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