When I’m not writing Hawaiʻi’s most popular hospitality newsletter 😁😁, I’m working as a hotel and travel industry consultant. Every so often, that means I get a front-row seat to where the industry is headed. Last week, that seat was at Google’s Mountain View campus for a travel advertising summit hosted by Google and Amadeus.
After spending the day with both Google and Amadeus, a few things stood out.
A few notes from my notebook:
Google wants one campaign, not five.
Search, YouTube, Maps, Display, AI Search… Google is working toward a world where marketers define the objective, and AI decides where the campaign performs best. The days of managing every channel separately are numbered.
First-party data is becoming a competitive advantage.
Loyalty members, CRM data, booking history, and audience signals all help Google’s AI make better decisions. Hotels that know their customers will have a head start over those that don’t. The question is, will hotels be comfortable sharing that data with Google (our guess is you won’t have much of a choice)
- Content matters more than ever: Rich room descriptions, quality photos, videos, amenities, reviews, and structured data all help AI understand your property. We’ve spent years optimizing for Google Search. Now we’re optimizing for AI. Big learning: videos are now searchable, not just the video itself but specific content in the video!
- Performance Max keeps getting smarter: One feature I found particularly interesting is the ability to focus campaigns on acquiring new customers instead of spending money marketing to guests who were probably returning anyway. Google is trying to solve for the oft-heard claim that PMax is cannibalizing organic search.
- Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) will likely become the standard: Think of it as a common language that allows AI, hotels, airlines, OTAs, and other travel companies to search, shop, and complete bookings using the same standard. Google, Amadeus, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, Choice Hotels, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Accor, Trip.com, and many others are already behind it. When this many industry heavyweights line up behind the same standard, it’s usually a good bet on where the industry is headed.
My favorite slide of the day:
Amadeus showed a slide that referenced SEO, GEO, AEO… and then “JKLMNO.” It got a laugh because it’s true. The industry loves new acronyms, but the fundamentals haven’t changed. Great content, accurate data, and a seamless customer experience still win. AI is simply consuming that information differently. So think SEO on steroids.
If I had to pick one takeaway, it’s that Google is building toward a future where marketers aren’t managing channels anymore. Instead, we’ll define business goals and let AI figure out the best way to achieve them. My second biggest takeaway (literally) was the energy bars and dried mango from the famous Google snack room (free and in every building!)
Want to dive deeper? If this stuff interests you, check out the UCP Site and the Google Ads& Commerce Blog.
