No Ads My A*s (or the Slow Googlization of OpenAI)

Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Technologies at Hospitality Net, draws a sharp parallel between Google’s early “no ads” promise and today’s reassurances around ad-free, unbiased generative AI. He argues that monetisation will inevitably seep into AI answers themselves – shifting us from pay-to-rank to “pay-per-mention” in a post-search world where hotels, OTAs and brands compete not for clicks, but for the right to be named by the model at all.

Remember what Google promised?

Google is a pure search engine, no weather, no news feed, no links to sponsors, no ads, no distractions, no portal litter, nothing but a fast-loading search site.

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The Hotel Yearbook 2026 - Annual Edition

The hotel industry in 2026 finds itself at the meeting point of powerful, converging forces: rapid technological progress, climate urgency, shifting guest expectations, labour market disruption and economic realignment. This edition of The HOTEL Yearbook looks at how hotel organisations respond, not by choosing one direction over another, but by designing integrated strategies that combine digital and human, global and local, automation and empathy. A large share of this year’s contributions focuses in particular on artificial intelligence and its growing influence across almost every segment of hospitality, confirming AI as one of the defining themes of this moment. Bringing together expert voices from around the world, the publication explores strategy, technology, sustainability, finance, asset management, food and beverage, human resources, design and more, all through the lens of intentional hybridity in an age of convergence. The message is clear: in 2026, hybridity is no longer optional; it is strategic, and it will be the leaders who approach it with real intention who shape the future of our industry.
www.hotelyearbook.com/edition/2026.html