OTAs get more visibility thanks to DMA

Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA) is changing the way users interact with hotels through Google, the dominant search engine in the EU

Within the Google ecosystem, Hotel Ads has been hit the hardest, with a 33% drop in relative share. While some of this lost visibility has been absorbed by other Google solutions (both organic and paid), the overall impact of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is that OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) are gaining more visibility on Google. This shift is driving more business to OTAs, which in turn is increasing costs for hotels and deepening their reliance on third-party distribution channels.

Key takeaways

• Google Hotels is experiencing significant declines within the European Union, with its share as a "source of reservations" dropping from 13.4% to 8.9% (an absolute decline of 4.5%);
• When ads, Google Hotels and organic search are combined, Google sees a net loss of 1.5% in its overall share. However, it still holds a dominant position with 65.7% of direct bookings;
• The decline in direct revenue doesn't necessarily equate to fewer reservations for hotels, as OTAs are likely to capture that traffic and booking volume. However, this channel shift from direct B2C sales to OTA sales results in higher distribution costs for hotels.

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