In May 2019, :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} announced that it is taking yet another step toward becoming a major player in the travel industry by launching Google Travel. In this article, we take a closer look at Google’s initiative and speculate on how this may affect the travel industry and its consumers from an SEO perspective.
What is Google Travel?
Previously, Google had several separate sites for its travel-related features. For example, flight search functionality was available under Google Flights, and hotel searches were handled via Google Hotels.
The idea behind Google Travel is that all of Google’s travel-related features have now been integrated into one large tool. This includes, in addition to flights and hotels, the app Google Trips, locations in Google Maps, and much more.
In practice, this means that you can book a hotel and receive the booking confirmation in your Gmail inbox. Google then extracts data from the confirmation and updates the reservation in Google Maps. This allows the traveler to see where the hotel is located and the dates it is booked for—without ever leaving Google Maps. The user can then further plan their trip by adding places and restaurants they wish to visit, based on distance or ratings and reviews—also directly in Google Maps.
With Google Travel, Google is on its way to creating the ultimate travel planning tool, where travelers can find everything they need to plan and book a trip. Google then has the ability to follow the traveler’s entire customer journey, from initial interest to arrival at the destination.
When you also consider that Google is already a world-leading search engine that rewards sites with the best information, it is reasonable to conclude that Google will become a major and influential player that can affect both the travel industry and how we as consumers plan our trips.
Will Google Travel turn the travel industry upside down?
The short answer is no—but the travel industry needs to improve and work more closely with Google while putting customer search intent at the center. By this, we mean that travel companies must become better at understanding the exact purpose behind each search made by potential customers, in order to offer the best possible solution to their needs.
Google’s shift from being purely a search engine to actively participating in the travel market will not come as a surprise to anyone who has tried to find travel inspiration using Google Search. Anyone who has traveled at all over the past ten years has likely used Google to look for inspiration, destinations, restaurants, and comparisons between flight tickets.
What is somewhat surprising is that it has taken this long to take the step, considering that Google already acquired :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} back in 2010—a tool specifically developed to compare flight prices.
Google argues that it is currently very difficult for travelers to know what constitutes a fair price for a flight ticket and when the best time to book is. By launching Google Travel, Google aims to improve the booking experience. The likely reason is that Google has determined that many travel sites are often inadequate at presenting accurate and transparent data for this purpose.
How could Google Travel affect the travel industry?
It is difficult to predict which players will be most affected by Google’s increased focus on travel. Undoubtedly, the entire travel industry will be influenced in one way or another when a company of Google’s size chooses to expand. More specifically, comparison sites within the travel sector may be particularly impacted, but sites that review hotels, travel-related services, and destinations may also need to adjust their models to remain relevant in the new ecosystem.
At present, most players in the travel industry have little reason to worry. Google has offered direct hotel booking features (Google Book) for quite some time, but relatively few people use them, as Google is still primarily seen as a place to find information rather than a platform for making bookings.
Google’s long-term goal is most likely to become a larger part of how individuals plan their travel—and eventually the natural choice for making reservations. The launch of Google Travel can therefore be seen as another step toward becoming a more central part of people’s planning and booking processes.
It is worth noting that Google’s stated objective is to solve users’ problems—something that should also be the focus for all businesses in all industries. There will therefore always be room for different ways of solving travelers’ needs and preferences.
What actions should companies in the travel industry take?
Just as it is difficult to predict what this will mean for the travel industry, it is also hard to foresee exactly what measures companies should take to withstand potential competition from Google. It is important to remember that Google is, first and foremost, a search engine—it will not provide travel services or own hotels. Nor will Google produce the content needed by inspiration sites or other informational resources that are often crucial to travelers.
It will ultimately come down to adhering closely to Google’s guidelines, maintaining well-optimized websites, and producing the best possible content that provides the most accurate answers to what users are searching for—that is, the search intent behind each query.
For locations such as restaurants and hotels, we believe greater emphasis should be placed on collecting positive reviews via Google My Business. This is partly because sites that currently aggregate reviews may receive less visibility in search results, and partly because Google has now synchronized Google Maps with bookings and saved places—meaning reviews are displayed directly on the map.
Who benefits the most from Google Travel?
The biggest winners from Google’s more active entry into the travel industry are, naturally, the end consumers. When a player as large as Google works to simplify travel planning, it forces others to improve the quality of their information and services.
Travel consumers will therefore gain access to better information and be able to make more informed decisions about their travel experiences. Being able to gather all these features in one place and combine them with Google Maps makes it easier to know where to go and which places are worth visiting. As a result, we believe the future of travel looks bright.
