Setting up Google Ads Hotel
Google Ads at a glance: the modern marketer's complete arsenal
In the collective imagination, Google Ads is often summed up as the sponsored links that squat on the first page. In reality, the platform is a galaxy of interconnected formats: Search Network campaigns to capture raw intent; Display to seduce through images; Video to set an emotional scene on YouTube; Shopping to sell a gift box; Discovery to surprise Internet users on Gmail or Discover; Performance Max to automate the creative mix and budget allocation; not forgetting Call, Applications, Local and, of course, Hotel. Each brick corresponds to a stage in the customer journey, from awareness to the final booking. When these formats are aligned, travellers no longer see a series of ads: they experience a fluid conversation with your brand, sometimes informative, sometimes persuasive, but always coherent.
Our DNA: more than a service provider, the co-pilot of your digital success
For nearly fifteen years, Hotel Web Design has built its reputation on a deep-seated conviction: every establishment tells a story that needs to be told at the right time, on the right screen, in front of the right traveller. So our first action is never to pull out a standardised campaign, but to enter your lobby, breathe in the atmosphere, listen to your teams describe their ambitions and decipher the emotions on your guests' faces. Then we turn these observations into a strategy: a hand-sewn digital plan in which every pixel, every budget and every KPI is in dialogue with your values, your seasons and your profitability imperatives. It's this artisanal, results-focused approach that has earned us the trust of dozens of hotels, guest houses and restaurants looking for controlled growth.
Why Google Ads remains a decisive lever for the hotel industry
Google Ads - Mountain View's flagship advertising programme - is not just one tool among many; it is often the tipping point between fair visibility and massive exposure. Its range includes :
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Research Network Campaigns to capture the user's burning desire.
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Display campaigns to raise awareness via high-impact banners.
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Intelligent campaigns that use Google's machine learning to maximise your goals without daily micro-management.
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Application campaigns designed to boost your hotel apps in stores and on the web.
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Discovery campaigns to reach curious audiences as they explore inspiring content.
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Shopping campaigns (little used in our sector, but formidable for gift shops and retail corners in certain establishments).
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Video campaigns that combine storytelling, emotion and social proof.
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Local campaigns to attract a flow of geolocated visitors.
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Call campaigns ideal when the telephone is still the primary booking channel.
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Performance Max (PMax)the Swiss army knife algorithm that simultaneously broadcasts across all Google inventories and reallocates the budget in real time.
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And, of course, the Hotel Campaignsthe main focus of this analysis.
We could talk for hours about each format, but let's concentrate on the tourism industry's most important weapon: Google Hotel Ads.
Google Hotel Ads: a springboard to direct booking
Launched in beta under the name "Hotel Price Ads" in 2011, the programme has gone from strength to strength. Today, when travellers type in "4-star hotel Paris", they see a rich module appear above the classic results: photos, ratings, price range and, above all, a "Hotel Price Ads" button. "Official website. It is this link that we are able to secure - free of charge or via a cost per click - for our partners.
2.1 How does it work in practice?
Google centralises two main feeds:
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Inventory flow - exhaustive list of establishments, with their attributes (category, address, facilities, policies, strengths).
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Price & availability feed - updated several times a day, or even every minute for high-tech structures.
Based on this data, Google compares the user's search intention, applies your bidding rules and then displays your rates in direct competition with the OTAs.
2.2 Proposed auction strategies
There are five models to choose from:
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Commission per stay (CPA Stay) : you pay Google only after the holiday has been completed.
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Commission per conversion (CPA Fixed) a percentage or a fixed amount per confirmed booking.
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Optimised CPC (eCPC) Google adjusts your CPC to maximise conversions.
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CPC manual you retain control line by line.
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Percentage of CPC You define a ratio in relation to the price of the room.
For our part, we regularly test different combinations to find the sweet spot in terms of budget, where the acquisition remains profitable without sacrificing margin.
2.3 A competitive but manageable environment
A study by Isabelle Mathieu in 2012 valued the keyword "hotel" at nearly €30,000 per day in CPC terms. Since then, advertising inflation has slowed, but the competition remains fierce. Rather than fighting over generic queries, we are targeting niche expressions ("hotel with rooftop Lyon Presqu'île", "chambre familiale spa Annecy") to capture an ultra-qualified audience.
Open a Google Hotel campaign in 9 steps
Google publishes an exhaustive guide - ninety richly illustrated pages - but most web hosts give up before page 20. Here is our condensed version:
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Sign in or create a Google Ads account dedicated to your brand.
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Access to the "Campaigns" menu then select "Creating a campaign without an objective.
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Choice of "Hotel" type.
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Hotel Center Account Association to synchronise inventory, prices and availability. Without this, it's impossible to broadcast.
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Christening the campaign with an explicit name (e.g. "Winter_2025-HotelAurora").
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Select the auction strategy mentioned above.
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Defining the budget (we recommend starting with 5 % of monthly RevPAR to test).
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Setting the broadcast parameters These include the target geographical area, languages and devices. By default, everything is activated; the art lies in fine-tuning.
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Structuring ad groups distinct if you manage several establishments or segments (rooms, long-term offers, romance packages).
In just forty-five minutes, your first campaign can be up and running. Then the real work begins: analysing the reports, adjusting the bids, refining the ad extensions and, above all, aligning your booking engine with the advertising promises.
From technique to emotion: our methodology
On paper, anyone can copy and paste an XML feed and press "Launch". In reality, performance depends on three subtle ingredients:
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Flow reliability A price error of just two centimes is enough to suspend an advert. We have therefore developed an automatic proofreader that validates each line before import.
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Relevant visuals Our photo shoots reflect the soul of the establishment, not just its square metres. A sunset on the terrace or the smell of fresh bread at breakfast create an immediate emotional projection.
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Consistency of experience Clicking through, landing on a slow page or one with a dated design, then having to enter ten fields before seeing the final price... that's the best way to throw your budget out of the window. So we're redesigning the booking funnel right down to the last pixel.
Focus on concrete benefits
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Increased exposure your establishment appears exactly when the web surfer expresses an intention to buy.
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Ultra-targeted public Filtering by date, price, distance, Google ratings and equipment.
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Enhanced referencing The algorithm values the freshness of feeds and the quality of landing pages.
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Qualified traffic to your official site, so proprietary data and easy remarketing.
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Live bookings Say goodbye to exorbitant commissions - your gross margin is back on track.
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Prices and availability in real time fewer errors, less overbooking.
The icing on the cake: the synergy between Google Ads and Google Business Profile increases organic visibility.
The benefits of agency support
Working with an external partner does not mean blindly delegating; it means investing in a team that :
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Monitor the health of your campaigns seven days a week.
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Compare your acquisition costs with those of OTAs to prove, with figures to back it up, the relevance of the direct channel.
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Optimise the bid and the message in near real time using in-house scripts.
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Train your internal teams so that they understand the logic and can take over if necessary.
Our greatest source of pride? Seeing a hotel manager open his dashboard, seeing the direct booking rate rise from 20 % to 45 % and smiling broadly.
Free booking links: a discreet but powerful ally
Since 2021, Google has been offering hoteliers the opportunity to appear free of charge in the "All prices" module. On average, we are recording a surplus of 25 % of reservations via these free links from the first three months. It's a breath of fresh air in a world often dominated by commissions.
Zoom in on concrete benefits (non-exhaustive list)
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Increased exposure your establishment appears exactly when the web surfer expresses an intention to buy.
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Ultra-targeted public Filtering by date, price, distance, Google ratings and equipment.
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Enhanced referencing The algorithm values the freshness of feeds and the quality of landing pages.
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Qualified traffic to your official site, so proprietary data and easy remarketing.
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Live bookings Say goodbye to exorbitant commissions - your gross margin is back on track.
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Prices and availability in real time fewer errors, less overbooking.
The icing on the cake: the synergy between Google Ads and Google Business Profile increases organic visibility.
Things to remember
Google Hotel Ads is not a gimmick. It's a robust, constantly evolving tool that rewards the accuracy of the data and the relevance of the experience. Rigorously managed, it becomes a healthy and sustainable acquisition lever.
Common pitfalls to avoid
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Underestimating competition on generic keywords It's better to dominate a niche than to drown in a red ocean.
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Forget about location exclusions advertising a mountain hotel to users 10,000 km away makes no sense if you don't include flights.
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Neglecting the pricing structure A cheaper price on Booking than direct and confidence evaporates.
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Ignore mobile parity 62 % of hotel searches are carried out on smartphones, yet desktop-centric sites persist.
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Let the campaign run on autopilot on the grounds that "the algorithm knows best".
In each of these cases, the hidden cost often exceeds the marketing budget.
Case study: the shining example of theAurora Shore Hotel
The Aurora Shore is a 38-room boutique hotel on the Basque coast, facing the ocean. Before we arrived, its distribution mix was split between 70 % OTAs and 30 % direct. At the height of the season, the manager was tearing his hair out: fat commissions, volatile clientele, squeezed margins.
We started by auditing its digital ecosystem: dated website, out-of-time booking engine, price feeds manually updated twice a week - a minefield.
Phase 1: website redesign and integration of a mobile-first engine
The result is a threefold reduction in loading speed and a twofold increase in the page-to-page conversion rate.
Phase 2: deployment of a hybrid Google Hotel Ads campaign (free links + optimised CPC)
Initial budget: €2,000 per month, targeting France, Spain and the UK.
After six months :
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Direct market share increased to 55 %.
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Average acquisition cost: €6.30.
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Incremental revenue: +€124,000 over the high season.
The manager, a former pro surfer, told us that he had rediscovered "the pleasure of catching the waves first thing in the morning instead of poring over OTA reports". An anecdote that sums up our mission: to free up the time and minds of our partners.
Projection: the future of Google Hotel Ads
We are already seeing strong signs: more automation, advanced integration of generative AI to create ad variants instantly, gradual merger with Performance Max. The challenge will be to maintain a differentiating brand voice in this algorithmic bath. Our vision is to combine the power of automation with the finesse of storytelling.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a magic wand, move on. If you're looking for a committed partnership, based on analysis, optimisation and ongoing exchange, we're up for the challenge. At Hotel Web Design, we believe that every empty room is a story that hasn't been told, every potential customer a missed opportunity. Let's work together to turn your digital visibility into memorable, profitable and - dare we say it - exciting stays.
