Hotel prices on Google Maps
Η Google, εδώ και λίγο καιρό ανακοίνωσε πώς η εφαρμογή της Google maps θα παρέχει πλέον την δυνατότητα να ανεβάζουν τα ξενοδοχεία τις τιμές τους, σε πραγματικό χρόνο, στους χάρτες της Google.
Η παρακάτω συνέντευξη της Maria Pezzi, Διευθύντριας web marketing & e-commerce της γνωστής αλυσίδας Swissotel, στο Eye for Travel (στα αγγλικά) παρουσιάζει αρκετό ενδιαφέρον, για αυτό την αναδημοσιεύουμε.
Google has started experimenting with a new feature that will result in showing specific prices for selected hotel listings.
With this feature, when users search for hotels on Google Maps, they will be able to enter the dates they plan to stay and see real prices on selected listings.
One can click on the price to see a list of advertisers who have provided pricing information for that hotel, indicated by the “Sponsored” text, and click through to reserve a room on the advertiser’s site. By showing users this relevant hotel rate information directly in the Google Maps results panel, Google hopes to make this aspect of trip planning more speedy and efficient.
Importantly, Google says this new feature will not change the way that hotels are ranked in Google Maps. Google Maps ranks business listings based on their relevance to the search terms entered, along with geographic distance (where indicated) and other factors, regardless of whether there is an associated price.
Assessing such developments, Pezzi says, “In general, I welcome any enhancements to Google Maps and Local business listings. Google Maps are an important element of our SEO strategy.”
She added, “However, I think this latest addition might have some serious implication for hoteliers. Even though according to the official Google statement, the ranking of the listing will not be changed, it is likely going to affect the click through rate to the supplier’s site, if for example, only OTAs are sponsoring the price listing for that specific hotel. It is also still unclear on how the prices will be fed. Will the system support rate rules, offers? OTAs and even meta search companies have in most cases a full CRS integration or at least offer an extranet option which can be updated by one of the various extranet management tools.”
She continued, “OTAs will have the technology to set up some pricing feeds for these ads, if supported, but this will not apply to all hotels. At the end, for us hoteliers, this can turn out to be a very costly and time consuming exercise. Potentially, probably cheaper than selling through OTAs, but it will very much depend on the technology needed and on how accurate and well updated the price feeds will be.”
