The 8 BiggestReasons theTrafficLandscape isShifting forHotels N E T A F F I N I T Y

As many hotels have noticed overthe last 12 months, the traffic

landscape is changing.

Changes to Google's search enginepage, shifts in device traffic andother factors all add up to one

thing:

ORGANIC TRAFFICIS BEING REROUTED

TO PAID SEARCH,SOCIAL, AND EVENOFFLINE CHANNELS

The path to bookinghas never been

straightforward.

Hotels must be aware ofthe the different causes ofthis traffic shift, and which

channels are rising andfalling in popularity

among travelers.

WHAT ARE THECHANGES?

the changes+ M O R E T E X T A D S+ T H E K N O W L E D G E P A N E L+ E X T E N D E D T E X T A D S+ P R I C E E X T E N S I O N S+ M O B I L E U P D A T E S+ A D B L O C K E R S+ S O C I A L R E S E A R C H+ C A L L A C T I V I T Y

more text adsOn Feb 23, 2016, Google got ridof right-hand text ads. They nowmostly show 4 text ads instead of2 or 3.

Organic results are now furtherdown the page, resulting in lessengagement with organic listings.

knowledge panelFor some search results, theknowledge panel has become moreprominent.

The knowledge panel is made ofcontent like maps, reviews,images, and Google Hotel Ads.

Hotel Ads allow individual hotels todisplay pricing and booking linksdirectly on Google.

With Hotel Ads, Google is effectively becominga metasearch channel.

Call extensions on knowledge panels are alsobeing pushed by Google, driving traffic that

would have gone to websites through phones.

extended text adsExtended Text Ads (ETAs) are thebiggest change since AdWordswas born 15 years ago.

ETAs are double the size of adswe're familiar with.

This means ads with more widthon desktop, and more depth onmobile.

On mobile, you now need to scroll past3 complete screens to reach an organiclisting.

Early reports show click-through ratesfor ETAs increasing by as much as20%, driving more paid traffic to yoursite.

This shrinks organic traffic, especiallyon mobile devices.

price extensions

Google's newpriceextensions takeup significantmobile realestate:

Price extensions are a good wayto get more engagement - forexample, they allow you to listprice tiers for different rooms.

Effects on traffic are too new tobe measured, but it seems likelythat they'll contribute to paidtraffic on mobile and drops inorganic.

whew...halfwaythere!

mobile updatesThe most recent update to Google'smobile-friendly algorithm providesan additional ranking boost formobile-friendly websites.

Mobile-friendly sites won't see muchof a change, but if your site isn'tmobile-friendly, your organicsearch results will be even morestrongly affected. Time to update!

ad blockersThe increase in direct trafficcome from 2 root causes:

Users are savvier in theironline behavior, and privacy isbecoming more important tovisitors.

Increased use of Ad Blockers isdriving more direct traffic. AdBlockers often strip the trafficsource, causing the traffic to bemarked as 'Direct' in GoogleAnalytics.

travel research There are now a huge number oftravel research touchpoints on socialmedia - not just search engines.

Increased adoption ofsocial and travel content means sometraffic is being shifted from organic tosocial channels.

Hotels are also driving this by beingmore active on social and runningmarketing campaigns on socialchannels.

call activityHotels are seeing an increase in callactivity.

From our own data, we can see phone callextensions within ads are drivingsignificant call volume to hotels.

This is reflective of the 'book on the go'nature of users, and may also showcontinued resistance to actually bookingon mobile.

to sum up:

Individual hotels will seedifferent traffic patternsdepending on their ad spend,channel strategy, ratemanagement, etc.

However, outside influences areimposing these general changeson the industry, and many hotelsare taking note.

What matters, ultimately, isdriving revenue. And we'reseeing stronger engagement andan increase in conversion ratesacross the board.

The traffic landscape is changing- not undergoing a crisis.Changes can be quick andpractical!

Our team of creative technology expertshave been working in the field of hotel

technology since 2000.

Our team of digital marketers, webdesigners and account managers are all

focused on helping the independent hotelier.

Our job is simple: we make yours easier.