As part of Google’s support process throughout the COVID-19 crisis, they have made the decision to release US$340 million in ad credits to small and medium-sized businesses around the world. Many hotels will fall into Google’s eligible criteria so here is a quick post detailing how we can approach it and make the best use of the scheme.
Google themselves rely hugely on ads revenue and the number of campaigns that have been halted due to budget constraints will certainly impact them. It is therefore important that they show value to their customers and try to keep these customers within the dashboard and spending at least some money.
Which Hotels are eligible for Ads credit?
You need to have had an account open and active since the beginning of 2019 to be eligible for the scheme. This is also eligible for Google partners on your behalf if someone else is managing and running the account for you. You also need to have complied with all the Google terms and conditions for that time. I’m not sure how many people will be ineligible for these reasons but that is a future question!
Because of the stipulation that you need to have an account active since the beginning of 2019, it makes a lot of sense to keep a branded campaign going so as not to void this eligibility criterion.
How do you apply for the credits?
There is no application process at the moment. Google are saying that the credits will appear in the account along with a notification “in the coming months”. While this is a bit vague, at least they have made it easy to get access to the scheme.
When will I receive these credits for my hotel?
These are going to be rolled out steadily from now for a few months. Notifications within the ads platform itself will inform users whether or not they have had credit applied. They are building the system for these specialised credits as we speak and will not be completely ready in the short term.
How long are these credits going to be around for?
The credits must be used by businesses within the year of 2020 and are likely to become void after that. It is not simply a monetary injection but a credit of a particular type.
What can I use these credits for?
The idea behind the scheme was to allow businesses to stay in touch with their customers even if they don’t have the funds to support a campaign of this type right now. These credits can, therefore, be used for all different types of fo campaign, from search, display and YouTube. It is yet to be determined how this will be applied to Google Hotel Ads. We’ll keep you in the loop as we learn more.
What’s next in PPC for hotels?
The most important thing is to keep in the loop as the news develops. The two key pieces of advice I can offer at this stage are to:
Keep a branded campaign running so you remain eligible
Keep checking in on the dashboard so you are fully in the loop with the latest developments. Notifications will appear in there.