Hotels are handing 15–25% of every booking to OTAs — but a well-built PPC strategy can win those guests back for a fraction of the cost. This episode breaks down exactly how to do it.
Show Notes
OTA commissions are one of the most quietly damaging costs in the hotel business — and most properties accept them as unavoidable. This episode challenges that assumption head-on, making the case that a disciplined paid search strategy can recover significant margin, build a direct-booking guest database, and put hotels back in control of their own customer relationships. The discussion draws on the PPC guide for hotels and resorts from PPC.co, translating its strategic framework into practical, actionable terms.
Here's what the episode covers:
- The OTA commission math — A side-by-side comparison of an OTA booking versus a PPC-acquired direct booking shows how even a modest ad spend can leave a hotel meaningfully ahead on a single reservation, before accounting for lifetime guest value.
- Brand campaign defense — OTAs routinely bid on individual hotel names in Google Ads, intercepting guests who were already searching for that specific property. Running brand campaigns is the clearest, most cost-effective way to reclaim that traffic.
- Metasearch visibility — Platforms like Google Hotel Ads, TripAdvisor, and Trivago place a hotel's direct rate alongside OTA rates in a single comparison view. Hotels that aren't present at that moment are invisible during one of the highest-intent stages of the booking journey.
- Seasonal and event-based timing — Campaigns need to front-run demand, not react to it. Launching peak-season ads six to eight weeks early, and running event-specific campaigns tied to nearby conferences or festivals, captures high-intent travelers before competitors do.
- Group bookings as an underutilized channel — Wedding blocks and corporate retreats can outperform dozens of individual leisure bookings in revenue, yet most hotels run no dedicated PPC campaigns, keywords, or landing pages targeting group inquiries.
- Traveler segmentation — Business travelers, families, and couples have different priorities, different search behaviors, and different booking windows. Separate campaigns with tailored ad copy and landing pages convert significantly better than a one-size-fits-all approach.
The episode also addresses mobile search (now over 60% of hotel queries), the direct link between online reputation and ad conversion, and why last-minute location-based campaigns deserve their own dedicated strategy. More from the show: listen to How to Migrate a Client Off a Fulfillment Partner That Isn't Working for more on making strategic vendor and channel decisions.
PPC
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A podcast covering all aspects of digital marketing including AEO/GEO, SEO, PPC/SEM, CRO and general digital marketing management.