Google Holiday Rentals or Google Vacation Rentals is an addition to Google’s suite of travel search products aiming to streamline the user experience. But how can holiday rental owners and property managers leverage it to attract more bookings? Here is everything you need to know about Google Holiday Rentals – how listings are displayed to guests, what the benefits are and how to get listed in the first place.
Millions of travelers use search engines like Google to find and book accommodation every day. And, the number of searches with the intent of finding holiday homes is continuously increasing.
To respond to this demand, Google has created Google Vacation Rentals, a product that integrates short-term rental listings into Google’s travel search function.
Holiday rental listings from select online travel agents and a handful of Google’s software partners now appear directly in search results, giving property managers the opportunity to tap into a vast pool of potential customers. We can promise that Search and Stay is now one of Google's software partners via our Search and Stay Channel Manager.
If you’re ready to diversify your holiday rental marketing and distribution, expand your visibility, compete on the highest levels alongside hotels and grow your property bookings, here’s everything you need to know about Google vacation rental search.
What are Google holiday rental listings?
Google Holiday Rental listings are different from organic search results (unpaid search results ranked by Google’s algorithm) and Google Ads (paid advertisements that appear in Google). And while they may look similar, they’re also different from Google Maps and Google My Business results. So what are they and how do they work?
Google Holiday Rentals are part of the search engine’s efforts to improve the search experience and make it easier to plan and book trips through Google. In 2011, the company introduced Google Hotel Ads, which display the availability and rates of hotel rooms directly in search results. Their next travel product was Google Flights, which works similarly, facilitating the purchase of airline tickets.
And, as of 2019, holiday rental listings also appear in Google search results, making it easy for travelers to find and book alternative accommodation. Short-term rental listings are pulled from select listing sites or provided by Google’s trusted holiday rental technology partners, such as via the Search and Stay Channel Manager.
How are Google Holiday Rentals presented to travelers?
There are two ways that travelers can find holiday rental listings on Google.
1. Searching for holiday rentals directly on Google Search
When travelers type a query such as “holiday rentals in Myrtle Beach” into the Google search bar, this is what they see:
On the left is a list of individual holiday rental properties with their respective information (number of bedrooms, number of guests, and pricing). On the right is a clickable map displaying the nightly rates of rentals throughout the city.
Once they see these results, travelers can refine their search by entering the dates and number of guests. Or, they can click on the “View all rentals” button to see more options. Then, they are taken to a Google Travel Search page that functions as a meta-search (a search engine within a search engine).
It looks something like this:
Here, travelers can refine their search even more (without leaving the Google interface) by adjusting the price range and using filters such as rating and amenities. They can also sort the results by best match, lowest price or highest rating.
When travelers click the ‘Learn more’ button next to a listing, they are taken to the rental’s Google listing page, where they can browse photos, read reviews and find out more details.
If they want to book the rental, travelers need to click on the nightly price displayed in blue or the ‘Visit site’ button. Then, they’ll be redirected to the website where they can finalize the booking.
2. Browsing the Holiday Rentals Tab in Google Travel
Another way that travelers can find holiday rentals on Google is by browsing the Holiday Rentals tab in Google Travel.
Google Travel is Google’s travel metasearch product that acts as a one-stop shop for all things travel, including flights, hotels, things to do, and of course, vacation rentals. It works very similarly to other travel metasearch engines like Kayak or HomeToGo.
When a traveller goes to the Google Travel page, they can click on the Holiday Rentals tab (called Vacation Rentals in USA) to search for and browse holiday rentals. Google even provides them with suggested destinations based on their location and past searches.
Once travelers put in their destination, the date of their trip and the number of guests, they’ll see the same list of vacation rentals we showed you above, with the listings on the left side and the map on the right.
3. Searching via Google Hotels
Finally, the third way that travelers can find vacation rentals on Google is by performing a search on Google Hotels.
For this, a traveler needs to go to the Google Travel page, and click on the Google Hotels tab.
There, they’ll be presented with a search bar where they can type in their travel details. By default, Google will serve up hotel search results. However, there’s another tab next to ‘Hotels’ that travellers can click to search for holiday rentals instead.
Once the traveler clicks on ‘Holiday Rentals’, Google shows them holiday rental results for the same search instead of hotels.
What are the benefits of listing on Google Holiday Rentals?
Now that you know what Google Holiday Rentals looks like and how travelers can find listings, let’s look at some of the reasons why you may want to consider expanding your distribution to Google.
- Global reach. Your rentals will be visible to millions of travelers or search on Google each day.
- Highly-qualified audience. You’ll be targeting people who use Google with the intent of planning, comparing and booking trips.
- Direct bookings. At the moment, Google doesn’t charge for sending travelers your way – so you’ll be getting commission-free direct bookings.
- Brand recognition. You’ll have an opportunity to promote your independent vacation rental brand and tap into new sources of traffic.
- Improved guest experience. You’ll be the owner of the guest relationship in its entirety, from processing payments to dealing with communication and more.
How can holiday property owners get listed on Google Holiday Rentals?
Currently, there are three ways that property managers can get their rentals to appear on Google:
- By listing your rentals on Online Travel Agents that are partnering with Google. Unfortunately, listings from Airbnb, Vrbo/HomeAway and Expedia are not appearing in Google Vacation Rentals search results.
- By working with one of Google’s approved connectivity providers, for example, the Search and Stay Channel Manager.
- By building a direct integration with Google (only if you have more than 5,000 properties).
If you’ve listed your properties on one of the Google-partner OTAs, your listings may already appear in Google Travel search results. However, when a traveler finds your listing on Google Holiday Rentals and clicks through to the OTA’s website, they will finalize the booking there. This means that you’ll have to pay a commission to the OTA. On the other hand, if you get listed on Google Holiday Rentals through a provider like Search and Stay Channel Manager, travelers will be redirected to our website and book directly – which means zero commission fees.
How to get listed on Google Vacation Rentals with Search and Stay
Search and Stay Channel Manager is connected by one of the few vacation rental channel managers that Google has chosen to work with. This means that by connecting your properties to Google through our platform, you’ll start seeing them appear in search results in no time.
Finally, when the traveler clicks the ‘Visit site’ button, they are redirected to the Search and Stay website where they can finalize the booking.
Steps to connecting your vacation rentals to Google
- List your property on Search and Stay
- Connect to the Search and Stay Channel Manager
- Go into the Channel Manager in your Search and Stay account
- Connect your properties to Google in just a few easy steps.
- Once you activate the connection, we send Google your availability and prices for 330 days (required by Google). Your ads go live within 2 days.
- When a guest clicks your Google vacation rental ad, they are redirected to Search and Stay website where they can complete the booking.
- Grow your business with commission-free direct bookings from Google.
Google Holiday Rentals is a vital distribution channel for holiday rental owners
Many property owners and managers have high expectations for Google Vacation Rentals as a distribution channel – and for good reason.
Not only is Google the world’s largest search engine, but it’s also becoming a one-stop-shop for travelers looking to book trips.
Gaining a new source of global exposure for your holiday listings, as a supplier of commission-free direct bookings, is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Frequently asked questions about Google Holiday Rentals
How do you get listed on Google Travel?
To get listed on Google Holiday Rentals, you need to work with one of Google’s approved connectivity partners, such as via Search and Stay Channel Manager. Unless you have a big enough portfolio, 5000 properties, and a tech team, so you can build a direct integration with Google!
How do I add a holiday rental to Google Maps?
Currently, there is no way to add individual vacation rental properties to Google Maps or Google My Business. This is to protect the privacy of the vacation rental owner.
How do I list a rental on Google?
There are only three ways to list a holiday rental on Google: by listing on one of Google’s partner OTAs, by working with a Google-approved connectivity partner like the Search and Stay Channel Manager or by pursuing a direct integration with Google, if you have more than 5000 properties.
List now on Search and Stay at no cost and with 1 or 1000 properties, you can then choose to add on a connection to our Search and Stay Channel Manager, for a small monthly fee of $10 per property/month and you can then enjoy a listing on Google Holiday Rentals which will refer your guest booking back to Search and Stay where you pay no per-booking charges.