Navigating Google Updates

While Booking.com spent $7.3 billion on Google ads last year, Google is building a tool that lets travelers book hotels without ever visiting Booking Google AI Mode already builds full travel itineraries inside search. It pulls in live hotel rates, photos, reviews, and availability. It recommends where to stay based on what the traveler asks for in plain language. Marriott International's CEO confirmed on their Q4 earnings call that they are building a "priority search experience" inside Google AI Mode. The booking gets processed directly through AI Mode. Not a link to Marriott. The actual booking. Google is also working with Expedia Group, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Choice Hotels International, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to do the same thing. Think about what that means for a second. Booking spent $7.3 billion on marketing last year. A huge portion of that went to Google. Google took that money and built the infrastructure to route travelers directly to hotel brands without Booking in the middle. Booking funded the tool that replaces Booking. And here is the part nobody is talking about. Google is not trying to be an OTA. Google does not want to handle cancellations or refunds or guest complaints. Google wants to own the three seconds between "I need a hotel" and "here are your options." That moment used to be free. Then it cost a few cents per click. Now it costs Booking $7.3 billion a year. Google is not killing OTAs. Google is making them pay more to reach the same travelers they could already reach. The toll goes up every year. The road gets shorter every year. OTAs spent $17.8 billion on marketing in 2024 combined. Booking, Expedia, Airbnb, Trip all competing to buy access to travelers who start their search on Google. Google controls the front door. Always has. The difference now is that Google is moving the cash register closer to the front door. When AI Mode handles the full booking, Google does not need Booking to complete the transaction. Google needs Booking to keep paying for visibility inside a system that is slowly learning to work without them. For hotel operators watching this from the outside, the instinct is to cheer. OTAs losing power sounds like good news. But Google is not giving that power to hotels. Google is keeping it. The question is not whether OTAs survive. The question is who ends up paying Google next. If Google can book the room directly, what exactly is Booking selling?

Google just fired a warning shot that every hotel, OTA, and travel marketer needs to hear. Starting November 3rd, Google is enforcing strict new rules around how prices appear in metasearch. This isn’t a small tweak, this is a full-scale crackdown. And it’s going to separate the honest players from the opportunists. For years, the metasearch ecosystem has been a mess. You’d click on a rate that looked great, then find hidden fees, redirects, and landing pages that didn’t even match the price you saw. It was confusing, it was misleading, and it made consumers lose trust. Google’s new policy changes that. The days of bait and switch pricing are over. Here’s what’s changing: 👉🏻 The price you show must be the same price the user can actually book. 👉🏻 The rate has to be the most prominent and relevant on the landing page. No more hiding it behind smaller text or alternative offers. 👉🏻 Meta on meta listings are banned. If you’re showing another aggregator’s price feed, you’re done. 👉🏻 Partners can’t sneak back in through indirect ads. If someone’s banned, their rates can’t reappear through someone else’s feed. Why this matters to hospitality: trust and transparency are now currency. When a guest searches for a room, they don’t care about your distribution complexity, they care about one thing, the truth. And for hotels that play fair, this shift is a huge win. It levels the playing field. It rewards those who put integrity over manipulation. This is your chance to clean up your digital storefront. Audit your metasearch listings now. Make sure your rates are consistent across every partner. If a guest clicks from Google and lands on your booking page, the price must match and the path to booking must be frictionless. This policy update is not just about compliance, it’s about strategy. Hotels that lean into transparency will earn higher click through rates, better conversion, and stronger brand equity. Guests are tired of feeling tricked. If your brand becomes the one that always delivers what it promises, you win the long game. I’ve been saying it for years, marketing is moving toward radical honesty. AI will automate the noise, but authenticity will always cut through. Google just put every brand on notice that the truth sells. So if you’re in hospitality, take this seriously. Check your partners, align your pricing, and make transparency part of your story. Because the brands that tell the truth are the ones that will own the future of travel. --- If you like the way I look at the world of hospitality, let’s chat: scott@mrscotteddy.com

The latest search data for 2026 shows that while the landscape is visibly shifting, Google remains on top with 94.8 billion visits in January alone. While most conversations are on ChatGPT’s rapid growth monthly visits, the searches happening there... What's not being discussed and what could be the real story for hoteliers is what's changing in Google’s SERP thats now driving in AI Mode. We are seeing an interesting situation with Google here - The search volume remains dominant and stable, but there is a drop in organic referrals to hospitality sites as Google’s AI Overviews answer guest queries directly on the results page... not necessarily mentioning hotel website Now the data highlights a challenging trend for our direct booking strategies. Google is already / working towards replacing its traditional travel ads and planning tools with the AI mode experience, moving beyond keyword searches. - Zero-click searches are at close to 60% as users get answers without ever leaving the search engine. - Organic click-through rates have dropped by as much as 35-47% when AI Overviews are present. The "AI search" story according isn't just about the rise of platforms; it is also about the transformation of the search engine that we all search on. If Google is providing the destination details and local insights on the AI Mode, we have to focus on how we can capture the guest's attention before they lose the need to click.

Why did Google launch 3 Core Updates in 2025? 2025 wasn’t about “fixing SEO loopholes.” It was about resetting how Google understands value. Here’s why Google rolled out three core updates in one year 1. Search behavior changed faster than expected: Users don’t just search keywords anymore. They ask full questions, compare options, and expect instant clarity. Google had to recalibrate results to match intent, not terms. 2. AI content exploded (quantity ≠ quality) AI made publishing easy. Trustworthy information became harder to identify. Core updates helped Google separate: ✔ Helpful, experience-driven content ❌ Scaled, low-value AI pages 3. Entities > Keywords Google now evaluates: • Who is the source? • Are they credible? • Are they consistently referenced? Ranking is no longer about pages; it’s about brands & entities. 4. User signals finally mattered at scale Engagement, satisfaction, and usefulness became ranking feedback loops. If users don’t trust or engage with your content, rankings don’t stick. What this means for SEOs in 2026 SEO isn’t dead. Shortcut SEO is. Winning now requires: • Clear topical authority • Real expertise & original insights • Strong internal structure • Brand trust across the web • Content that answers, not just attracts clicks If your traffic dropped in 2025, it wasn’t random. It was a signal. Question for you: Do you think Google will slow down core updates in 2026 or speed them up? Comment your take Follow for more insights Sushil Dahiya #seo #organic #content #marketing

D-EDGE Hospitality Solutions's findings have confirmed what I've observed with my clients. While regulators have good intentions, their execution often exacerbates the issues. This happened with the 2015 #LawMacron" (removing rate parity clauses from contracts between #hoteliers and #OTAs in most European countries), which led to rampant rate leakage, and it's happening again with the #DMA. I've written about this, discussed it with colleagues at Mirai and Cendyn, and concluded that the #DMA, especially with the introduction of #SGE, could even spell the end of #metasearch #advertising for #hotels. Unfortunately, the impact is even worse than I anticipated. According to D-EDGE: - Organic traffic to brand[dot]com websites has dropped by 20%. - Revenue from Google free booking links (#FBL) fell by 32%. - Organic links are less visible, appearing lower in search results. - Direct revenue from paid Google campaigns increased from 34% to 43%. - Direct distribution costs rose by 18%. - Market share of direct bookings dropped by 4.3%. - #OTA market share grew to 62.7%. As I predicted, the DMA paradoxically benefits gatekeepers like Google and OTAs, not the hotels. Will we ever learn? Regulations can only be effective if developed with input from industry professionals. In 2015, I assembled a group of professionals willing to collaborate for free on revising the anti-rate parity clause, and I'm ready to do it again. DMA, the #EUAIAct, #GDPR, Law Macron—all of these regulations were disasters from the start and negatively impacted businesses. Isn't it time we approach this differently? Hospitality Net

"By removing the commission-based ads model, Google is effectively pushing small hotels into a high-stakes, pay-per-click (PPC) system that demands technical know-how and upfront investment with no guarantee of return. Worse, the independent hotels that once held prime positions on Google Hotel Ads and Google Maps now find themselves buried beneath big-spending OTAs and major chains." "Furthermore, hotels’ share of direct bookings decreased by six per cent while OTA reliance grew by four per cent and the number of “free bookings” via Google Hotel Ads remained flat at around 0.5 per cent of total bookings." "Google’s decision to end its commission model wasn’t made in a vacuum. It was a response to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (#DMA), enforced in March 2024, and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act (#DMCCA), introduced by the last Conservative government, effective January 2025. These laws were designed to curb the power of digital '#gatekeepers' like Google, Amazon, and Booking.com by ensuring fair competition, transparent digital marketing practices and protecting consumer rights. Yet, the outcome has been the opposite for independent hotels. By pushing them into a riskier, more expensive digital advertising model, Google has effectively strengthened the dominance of the very OTAs and travel giants the legislation aimed to rein in." HOTREC – Hotels, Restaurants, Bars & Cafés in Europe

ICYMI, we at Near Media published an extensive study into European search behavior in the hotel vertical on Friday. https://lnkd.in/dCfJv7Z8 High-level findings as they relate to Google's post #DMA interface changes: The new "redesign" elements draw almost zero engagement because only half of consumers see them, and the Hotel Finder is still so positionally (and visually) dominant. - 50% of the time, consumers don't even see any of the primary redesign elements (Places Sites module + organic carousels) -- surprising to us, most of the time because they don't scroll past the ads (!) to see them. - 0/300 users in our study clicked the Places Sites refinement tab/filter that Google added at the top of the SERP. - When consumers do scroll past the ad blocks, Google still almost always shows the Hotel Finder in the first or second position, above all traditional organic results (and 16% more often than the Places Sites module). - The Hotel Finder drew 50% of all clicks when it was visible. The Places Sites module drew less than 2% of clicks on those SERPs. And organic results, including the new carousels, drew only 23% of clicks on those SERPs. With the Hotel Finder receiving 50% of all clicks when consumers encounter it--almost always in position 1 or 2--and organic results receiving just 25% of clicks on results where the Finder appears, this seems to fly in the face of the DMA's Article 6(5) self-preferencing provision.

“Let’s promote the middlemen!” said no hotel, ever. Except maybe Google, apparently. This week, in a bid to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Google proposed a new search display model that prioritizes digital intermediaries like Booking.com and Kelkoo over direct hotel listings. You can be sure that if this was about Airlines – we would have heard about it LOUD AND CLEAR. So why not hotels? Is this happening? Yes, really. In a world where every hotelier worth her/his salt is fighting tooth and nail for direct bookings, Google has effectively decided that the platforms charging 15–25% commissions deserve more visibility than the providers of the actual product. Why? Because their lawyers (and probably their lobbyists) think this satisfies Brussels. But let’s pause and ask: What were they thinking? Hotels report up to 30% drops in direct traffic. OTAs cheer. Intermediaries thrive. Users? They now have to dig deeper to find the real source. This isn’t “user-first” design. It’s algorithmic compliance theatre (OK so that’s a tongue twister but humour me here). And it’s déjà vu for those of us who remember the Google Flights saga, the Hotel Ads reshuffles, and every attempt to blur the line between “free” and “paid” content. IMHO we need to be clear: this isn’t DMA compliance—it’s distortion dressed up as something else. Real compliance would empower the supplier, not rewire the funnel in favor of whoever sits between the buyer and seller. Curious: Should the EU go further and mandate a “direct source first” principle? Or have we just accepted that the gatekeeper defines the game board? (Answers on a postcard please or below if you fancy). #TravelTech #HotelDistribution #DMA #GoogleSearch #DirectBookings #Intermediaries #DigitalMarketsAct #Skift #PhocusWire #Regulation #OTA #SearchFairness #BookingBias #UserExperience #InnovationOrInterference https://lnkd.in/gsm-d8Zm

Rudolph Dekker just shared with me that starting from October 15, 2024, Google will automatically enable Travel Feeds in Search Ads for advertisers who connect their Hotel Center feed to Google Ads. This update enhances existing search campaigns with real-time hotel prices, images, and other relevant information to boost ad engagement and performance. Key benefits include: More relevant ads: Ads will feature real-time data, such as prices and images, which can attract more user interaction. Higher performance: Google data shows that enriched ads can lead to a 20% increase in click-through rates (CTR). Streamlined management: Advertisers can easily manage this feature at both the account and campaign levels. This change applies to ads targeting both specific hotel keywords and broader searches, like "hotels in Boston." Advertisers are automatically opted in when they connect their Hotel Center feed. #PPC #SEA #Ads #GoogleAds

Everyone in SEO talks about “systems.” Frameworks. Checklists. Magic formulas. But after a decade in the field, I’ve realized something most people never do: 95% of ranking systems don’t survive next update. They work… until they don’t. And every year, SEOs jump to the next trend: → New tools → New scoring models → New hacks → New ranking theories But here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud: Google doesn’t reward complicated strategies. It rewards consistent signals. The only ranking system I still trust in 2025 is the one that never bends, never breaks, and never collapses after an update: A system built around user behavior. Not keyword stuffing. Not content volume. Not link hoarding. Just pure behavioral alignment: – What users search – What they expect – How fast they find answers – How long they stay – Whether they trust you Every algorithm shift for the past 5 years has pointed in the same direction Google isn’t getting harder. Google is getting human. And the SEOs who win now aren’t the ones chasing loopholes they’re the ones studying people. So if you ask me what system still works? The real one. The human one. The one built on intent, clarity, relevance, and trust. Everything else will eventually break. This won’t. If this hit home, share it with someone who’s tired of rebuilding their strategy after every update.