To get the most out of Google Hotel Ads, your hotel metasearch campaigns require the same level of attention as any other hotel marketing. This includes a dedicated budget, performance monitoring, and most overlooked, campaign optimization. Bid adjustments are some of the most common optimizations for many search marketing campaigns, so we put them to the test on Google Hotel Ads to see if the same technique would also work for metasearch.
This test was conducted over a period of 3 months (3 weeks for “Hotel 2”), using period-over-period data from Google Hotel Ads to compare results.
In this case, we were testing reduced bids on longer stays, with little to no change in total spend. In Google Hotel Ads, Cost per Click (CPC) is duplicated per night, which quickly adds up. A bid of $1 becomes $4 for a 4-night stay, and goes up to $7 for a week-long guest.
To combat this, we used negative bidding adjustments to minimize CPC bids and reduce unnecessary spending. In the case of our 4-night stay, we used a -75% adjustment to better match our base bid, effectively aiming to reverse the 4-times duplication.
We did not adjust 1-3 nights, since these lengths were both reasonably priced, and our best performers for each hotel.
See the chart below for the exact bidding adjustments we used in this test.
Percent change, period-over-period.
Hotel 1 saw an improvement to all metrics.
Hotel 2, the shortest test, saw a decrease to most metrics, with CPC, Revenue/Click, and ROAS remaining flat.
Hotel 3 saw an improvement to most metrics, with the exception of increased CPC and flat Clicks.
The following metrics were inconclusive, as the test produced one increase, one decrease, and one flat result for each:
However, every other metric saw an overall increase from this test:
No metric decreased overall.
Using negative bidding adjustments on Length of Stay led to a far more efficient use of our metasearch budget overall, stretching our dollar further and allowing us to increase conversion metrics without a significant increase to spend. While this specific test only adjusted bids for one variable, it still proves that Google Hotel Ads bidding adjustments can lead to improved performance, strongly supporting their value.
Like any optimization technique, bidding adjustments aren’t foolproof. Even in our test, Hotel 2 did see a dip in performance as a result of these adjustments. However, it’s still an optimization technique we wholeheartedly recommend. If you keep your customer in mind and pay careful attention to the performance of your specific hotel, Google Hotel Ads bidding adjustments have the potential for a great payoff.
If you’re looking to get started with Google Hotel Ads bidding adjustments, contact Metadesk for more information.