Do you ever feel like you are playing a game of whack-a-mole with your images when you go through a hotel renovation?
The Hotel Renovation Scenario
Your hotel just went through a beautiful renovation. You hired the best brand-approved hotel photographer in the business and had your entire hotel re-shot. The new, high-quality photos are in hand and showcase your rooms and spaces perfectly.
Your team uploads the fresh images into your brand’s photography platform and they are now live on the website.
Next thing you know, your Revenue Manager goes to check your competitors on Expedia or Booking.com and they see an old image popping up for the hotel’s listing.
Your team assured you that the old photos were deleted when they conducted an OTA Audit.
Someone on your team goes in to delete the image again, and the next day or the next week, there is that pesky image yet again.
How did this happen?
There are several things to check that are likely the culprit of distributing these old images: your brand’s distribution networks and images on metasearch.
Distribution Network: VFM Leonardo
For Marriott and IHG Hotels
Each of the brands utilizes a distribution network that pushes images out to OTAs and various local listings. If you have loaded new images and have not requested or done an audit of your distribution network, you’re going to run into this issue.
Marriott and IHG both use the distribution network “VFM Leonardo.” Leonardo pushes images out to Expedia and Booking.com. If you manually load images into Expedia and Booking.com, Leonardo will overwrite everything you have done when they refresh their connectivity. Leonardo also pushes out to other sites such as AAA, Google, Tripadvisor, and more.
Photos that are automatically fed from the Leonardo feed/Digital Asset Center are tagged with a “by Owner.”
To request an escalation of images that are within Leonardo, each brand requires different steps:
For Marriott escalations, use the Property Digital Asset Checklist before reaching out to the Digital Asset Operations team. Marriott uses the Digital Asset Center (DAC) as the one source of truth for image distribution across various channels. Usually, a photo that’s still in the DAC is the culprit of why an old image is still popping up on OTAs.
For IHG escalations, reach out to the Channels team at [email protected] after verifying that the photo is deleted/archived in Concerto.
Both will help to review the connectivity of images that are pulled from Leonardo.
Distribution Network: IcePortal
For Hilton Hotels
Hilton uses a different distribution channel, IcePortal via Content Gateway. IcePortal feeds images to major OTA channels including Expedia, Booking.com, Priceline/Agoda, and more, as well as Metasearch channels such as Google, Kayak, Trivago, and Tripadvisor. IcePortal also distributes photos to Yext for all hotel listings.
Hilton allows you to do an audit on your own through Content Gateway.
When navigating to this area inside Content Gateway you can see all of the images IcePortal has in its distribution. To remove an image, fill out the form and provide the Asset ID of the images needing removal.
If you manually load images into Expedia and Booking.com, they will be overridden by images loaded in the IcePortal. If you’re unsure on how to locate your IcePortal gallery or have more questions, reach out to MEC by visiting the MEC Support Hub via Boss Dashboard.
By using IcePortal via Content Gateway as the foundation for updating photos, refreshes can range from one day to up to six weeks and varies by site.
Report any errors or issues by submitting an Image Form in Content Gateway. Escalate issues to Hilton’s Content team by submitting a Content Gateway Support Form and ensure you include the case number of the Image Forms submitted, channel where outdated photos are appearing, and the image asset ID, filename, and/or image URL.
A manual refresh of IcePortal images can be requested too, but be sure to include the details of your request and why a manual refresh is required.
Certain platforms still require the hotels to upload their photos directly in their systems such as: local tourism/CVB sites and social media pages.
Distribution Network: Rio SEO
For Marriott
Another distribution network that Marriott uses to distribute photos across local listings is Rio SEO. To gain access to Rio SEO, submit a mPortal ticket using your EID and password to request access. Access is usually granted within 48-72 hours.
You can also submit mPortal tickets to request removal of photos on Google. Usually, once the photos have been updated in the DAC or on the HWS, it should sync to Google within 72 hours, but if these photos are not in the DAC and are still appearing on Google, a mPortal ticket should be submitted for the team to investigate.
Reasons why a photo is not eligible for removal:
- Flagged for “Not a photo or video of the place” – If this is in reference to a renovation, the hotel must provide before and after pictures from the renovation as proof. This will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
- Appropriate photo by a guest – Google favors user content and will not remove it unless it clearly violates policy.
I’ve Audited the Above Distribution Networks and There are Still Issues
After conducting an audit of your brand’s distribution channel, and you’re still finding old images popping up on Google, check all photos on Google Maps to find the source of where the photo is pulling from.
After clicking on “See photos”, you can look through all photos to see where each photo is being pulled from. In this instance, this photo is being pulled from Expedia:
You can flag the image for removal by clicking on the three dots and then “Report a problem.” Select an option under “What are you reporting this photo?” and submit.
Alternatively, additional OTA sites may have cached images where contacting their support team can help to escalate any old images that are still appearing.
Now that you have reported old images from Google and audited your brand’s distribution channel, you should no longer have any issues with old images popping up unexpectedly. The distribution networks may seem like they are working against you, but in reality, they help to keep your hotel’s information and images fluid throughout the web.
About Cogwheel Marketing
Cogwheel Marketing™️ is a full service digital marketing agency specializing in branded hotels, first leveraging brand systems then coupling that with supplemental strategies to maximize total online presence. Their reporting and business intelligence tool, Cogwheel Analytics, aggregates data from multiple sources to allow companies to identify trends and opportunities in their online presence. Our defined processes ensure the best positioning for your hotel against the competitive set and against other hotels of the same brand. Let us work with your sales and revenue management teams to identify and close the gaps and target your ideal guests.
