What scraping 20,000 Google hotel listings reveals

Skift’s latest report analyzes the distribution channels bidding for hotel bookings on the largest and most comprehensive metasearch engine in travel: Google Hotels

Skift web-scraped more than 20,000 hotel listings across the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa-both Google's within-sponsored results (paid listings) and Google's recently launched organic auction (where any site can list for free with the help of a tech partner). And we collected more than 520,000 data points to see which OTAs and direct sites are bidding for bookings and at what prices.

Key takeaways

• Booking.com dominates Google's sponsored results globally, consistently appearing as the top booking option in multiple regions. Along with Expedia, which promotes its sub-brands such as Priceline.com and Agoda.com, these giants outbid local players to secure their positions;
• Although Booking.com maintains a strong presence in sponsored results worldwide, Expedia.com strategically invests in advertising to secure top rankings. This effort is particularly evident in regions such as Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa, outside of Booking's and Expedia's primary markets (Europe and the U.S., respectively);
• In Asia and the Middle East & Africa, direct booking sites appear less frequently in Google's organic auction compared to the US and Europe. This disparity is due to a more fragmented hotel supply in the East, where independent hotels rely more heavily on online travel agencies (OTAs) for distribution. However, when direct sites do appear, Google prioritizes them, often placing them at the top of search results.

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