Marketing

📈 Hotel metasearch engines like Google Hotels, Tripadvisor, Trivago, and KAYAK compare room rates from OTAs and hotel websites. These engines use feeds to show live rates, and costs vary by auction-based models like cost per click (CPC) or commission. Google retired commission bidding in 2025. Metasearch can be cheaper than OTAs, which charge 15-30% commission. Success depends on rate competitiveness, parity, mobile optimization, and conversion efficiency. Quality feeds and listings are essential.

📷 Cincinnati-based Hospitality Visual Group (HVG) focuses on visual media for hotels, led by Saahil Patel, offering services for all hotel types and stages, including pre-opening and renovations. HVG uses photography, video, and drone footage. Recent projects include Hemal Patel's four Massachusetts hotels. HVG emphasizes compliance with brand standards and the need for hotels to be prepared before photoshoots. Their work showcases hotel uniqueness and builds a library of visual content to support booking channels.

🏠 Abritel, Expedia's French brand, expands Vrbo Sponsored Listings globally after a successful pilot, allowing vacation rental partners to boost demand and revenue through paid visibility and flexible pricing. Partners can utilize tools for last-minute pricing and promotions like Black Friday. New features include flexible cancellation policies, with full refunds possible up to the day before arrival. Expedia aims to enhance host demand and align with competitors like Airbnb with these innovations.

🌐 Google confirmed on August 26, 2026, the rollout of new `google.com/goto` redirects in Search, impacting large-scale systems more than end-users. Derek Perkins observed nearly 100% implementation across residential IP providers. SE Ranking's June 2025 study revealed 14% URL overlap and 21.9% domain overlap between AI Mode and organic top 10 results. Ahrefs reported 37.1% overlap in 2026, down from a prior 76.1% in 2025. Yext found 86% of AI citations are brand-managed, mostly from websites and listings.

📈 Hotel Majestic Saigon expanded its reach with D-EDGE Hospitality Solutions, connecting to all major Global Distribution Systems. It accessed over 50,000 Travel Management Companies, enhancing visibility among corporate travel buyers. By implementing dynamic corporate rates and participating in consortia programs, the hotel maintained pricing discipline. Flash campaigns during low seasons transformed low-demand periods into revenue opportunities, creating a balanced commercial strategy with wider market reach and year-round resilience.