Source: Triptease

Hotels need metasearch.

That's the message we took away from this year's Direct Booking Summit in Dallas. Google's determined push into travel is centered around its metasearch offering - Google Hotel Ads - and will see more and more hotel bookings swallowed up by the major advertisers unless hoteliers ensure they have a compelling presence on the platform.

Our audience in Dallas heard from TripAdvisor, Skyscanner, Remington Hotels, La Quinta and Koddi on where metasearch is headed as we move into 2019. You can watch our earlier panel discussion on the subject from the Direct Booking Summit: Europe here. This article wraps up our top learnings from the experts. Read on to find out how you can stay ahead of the pack.

Where Google goes, the industry follows

Like it or not, Google has an unparalleled influence over how the world searches for and books their travel. Back in June 2017, this influence got them into hot water with the European Commission when the company was fined 2.42 billion euro for giving its own comparison shopping ads 'an illegal advantage'. But Google Hotel Ads hasn't stopped growing, and Booking.com and Expedia haven't stopped channelling budget into the rapidly evolving channel.

Read the full article at Triptease