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In previous articles, we have analysed the 6 levels of the metasearch funnel and delved into the variables that determine the data of each funnel step or level.
We have discussed these points generically, always referring to paid Google Hotel Ads. But what about Google’s free booking links? Do they have their own funnel? How can we view the data related to free booking links?
Furthermore, in this post, we will discuss in detail where data referring to paid campaigns or free booking links can currently be consulted on Google platforms. 
Since Google’s free booking links appeared in 2021, a new free (organic) placement has been added below paid ads.
So what is the free booking links funnel like?
Google’s free booking links, being a totally free environment for the user, lacks the same support as the Google Hotels payment ecosystem and therefore, there is much less information available.
Of the top three levels of the funnel: opportunities, participated opportunities and eligible impressions, there is no information available from Google. This starts to be visible in 2 of the bottom 3 levels of the funnel: impressions and clicks.
Even without information, we estimate that the first level of the funnel, that of opportunities, should be the same or very similar in paid ads and in free booking links in terms of searches by hotel name or brand.
A user simply searches for your hotel on Google for a certain itinerary and cannot search for it by differentiating the type of campaign they want to see since, in this way, the opportunities and demand would be the same for the paid and free environment.
So, the opportunities, as well as the participation rate, should be similar for both placements, since the latter rate depends on mostly technical variables specific to connectivity partners, which should be the same at the hotel level, not of their paid or free campaigns.
Participated Opportunities and Eligible Impressions are exclusive to the payment channel. They are related to the possibility of entering the auction and the effective entry into the auction of the advertiser, concepts which correspond 100% to paid ads.
There is no information on how the free booking links “auctions” work, and they should not really be called that, since in this case no bidding is involved but there is a Google algorithm that decides the ranking of the “ads” of this placement, whose variables are not public.
It is then, from the fourth level of the funnel, that of Impressions, where both environments can be visualised separately with real data provided by Google. In the case of free booking links impressions, Google rounds the data to protect the privacy of the user of the free system.
For paid ads, the number of impressions is accurate. At this level, the hotel’s official website can appear in paid ads and free links at the same time, or in one or the other placement, each with its own ranking results.
The fifth level: hat of clicks, is very similar to the previous one, with separate data available via Google, with the difference that in this case, the click data fromfree booking links is also accurate, without rounding.
With the previous two levels you can calculate the CTR, also available on Google platforms.
Finally, at the conversion level, Google only provides conversion data from paid campaigns. Free booking links conversion data is not available from Google, only some connectivity partners record and offer this data to their customers. 
Where can I see all this data from Paid Ads and free booking links?
Leaving aside the tools of each integration partner, within the Google environment we can check almost all the data of the conversion funnel. Both paid and free.
In the table below we can see the data of the funnel, the type of placement (Paid Ads vs free booking links), the Google environment where they can be consulted and the Google API available to automate data processing.
Data |
Google Environment |
API |
|
Hotel Center by Google |
Google Travel Partners API |
|
Google Ads |
Google Ads API |
Free booking links and Paid Ads |
Hotel Center by Google |
Google Travel Partners API |
|
There’s no data from Google yet |
N/A |
As we can see, there is data that is in both the Google Hotel Center and the Google Ads console, data unique to each of the two environments and data that cannot yet be viewed on either platform. 
Conclusion and summary
In the first three posts of the series we have analysed:
- The 6 levels or stages of the complete metasearch funnel and their main KPIs.
- The sources and variables on which the data at these levels depend.
- The data available so you can see if there’s data you don’t currently have and where you can access this data directly on Google’s platforms.
- The minimum reference values to understand if your numbers are good or there is room for improvement.
- The funnel differences between paid ads and free booking links.
In the next and final post, we will finally focus on what we can do on a practical level to improve your data (and therefore your performance in the channel) in each of these stages to boost your direct sales on metasearch engines.
About Mirai Metasearch
Mirai Metasearch connects your hotel to metasearch engines, making it more profitable than sales generated through OTAs. For more information, contact us at metasales@mirai.com
About Mirai Partnerships
If your company would like to benefit from our solutions, please contact us at partnerships@mirai.com
About Mirai Consulting
Our advice and support service for hotels that want to take their distribution and direct sales to the next level. More information at consulting@mirai.com
