If you manage or own a vacation rental, then you are likely familiar with Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia and Booking.com. These platforms have dominated the global vacation rental market for years, but now face a new and formidable challenger in the form of Google Vacation Rentals (GVR).
This new service from tech giant Google has caused significant disruption in the industry, presenting both threats and opportunities for established companies and property owners alike.
By using GVR, vacation rental owners can showcase their properties to billions of users worldwide who use the popular search engine. To learn more about how to list your property on GVR, continue reading or download our comprehensive guide.
Continue reading our guide to find out everything you need to know about listing your property on Google Vacation Rentals.
Why list on Google Vacation Rentals?
Listing your vacation rental on GVS is an excellent way to increase visibility and booking potential. By listing on Google, your property will be seen by a vast audience of travelers who are actively searching for accommodations in your area. Additionally, Google provides a user-friendly platform that makes it easy for travelers to browse and book their next vacation rental.
One significant advantage of listing on Google Vacation Rentals is the ability to sync calendars with other booking platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. This feature ensures that there are no double bookings, which can lead to unhappy guests and lost revenue. Moreover, you’ll receive instant notifications when someone books or inquires about your property, ensuring you never miss a potential booking.
Plus, you have complete control over pricing, availability, and house rules. With access to real-time data and analytics reports, you can adjust rates based on demand or seasonality and make informed decisions about how best to market your vacation rental.
How to list my property on Google Vacation Rentals?
To get your property listed on Google Vacation Rentals, you’ll need to partner with one of Google’s approved software providers. These include:
- Avaibook – Zaragoza, Spain
- Availroom – Torrelodones, Madrid
- Avantio – Valencia, Spain
- Beds24 – Berlin, Germany
- Bluetent – Carbondale, Colorado, United States
- BookingPal – Irvine, California, United States
- Bookiply – München, Bavaria
- Channex – London, England
- FantasticStay – Sofia, Bulgaria
- GuestReady – London, England
- Guesty – Covina, California, United States
- Homerez – Paris, France
- Hostaway – Miami, Florida, United States
- Hostfully – San Francisco, California, United States
- Hostify – Dover, Delaware, United States
- IdoBooking – Poland
- Kigo – Barcelona, Spain
- Kross Booking – Bari, Italy
- Lodgify – Barcelona, Spain
- Octorate – Rome (Latium), Italy
- OwnerRez – Seattle, Washington, United States
- Rentals United – Barcelona, Spain
- Stays.net – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Tokeet – United States
- Uplisting – New York, New York, United States
- VRBookings – Montevarchi AR, Italy
If you are currently using any of the approved software partners listed above, then your listing is probably already visible on Google vacation rentals. But if you’re not using any software yet and plan to use one of the listed channel managers, they can assist you in getting your listing on Google vacation rentals.
Should i get listed? What are the benefits of Google Vacation Rentals
Connecting your listings to Google vacation rentals offers property managers a valuable opportunity to expand their business, diversify revenue streams, and enhance brand visibility. This approach enables you to attract more guests and acquire additional hosts.
Here are the top reasons to consider listing your properties with Google vacation rentals:
Enhanced Exposure
Getting your properties noticed by potential guests is essential. The more platforms you list your properties on, the higher the likelihood of securing bookings. With Google holding 90% of the search market in the US, showcasing your vacation rental on Google Travel is a smart decision.
Reputable Provider
Guests seek assurance that they’re making the right choice when booking a vacation rental. Due to its well-established and respected reputation, having your listing appear on Google Travel can instill confidence in guests about your property’s quality and standards.
Targeted Guests
Google Travel offers advanced filters enabling guests to find an accommodation that precisely fits their needs. This feature ensures that only qualified traffic visits your website, leading to a higher conversion rate for bookings.
Google’s vacation rentals incorporate standard filters such as travel dates, location, and number of guests. However, it also allows users who have already narrowed their search from “travel” and “type of accommodation” to “vacation rentals,” further refining results.
Increased Direct Bookings
Property managers aspire for hassle-free and commission-free bookings. When guests book through larger Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), property managers must pay fees and commissions. In contrast, Google currently does not charge for listing your vacation rental website or collect any commission from redirected bookings.
Although this may change in the future, it’s advisable for property managers to take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts.
How can I improve the visibility of my property on Google Vacation Rentals?
Connecting your business with Google Vacation Rentals can provide a significant advantage against competitors who are unlikely to appear in the search results. This is especially true for platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo, which have chosen not to be featured in the metasearch engine. Moreover, Google will always prioritize featured accommodations ahead of organic search results, where properties not listed on GVR will be left out.
Furthermore, many vacation rental businesses do not have their own website capable of processing reservations while fully integrating with GVR and meeting mandatory requirements for appearing in the metasearch engine. Although this presents an excellent opportunity for those that do have this capability, there is always room for improvement.
To maximize your exposure on Google Vacation Rentals even further, we can offer guidance on how to increase your appearance frequency.
More Amenities = More Visibility
To increase the visibility of your property on Google Vacation Rentals (GVR), it is best to maximize the number of attributes, which are essentially data about your accommodation. These attributes include information such as available amenities, check-in and check-out times, and cancellation policies.
By completing as many attributes as possible on your website, particularly regarding amenities, services, and policies, you can improve your chances of appearing in the top results on GVR.
Therefore, it is recommended that you provide as much information as possible to make your property more appealing to potential guests.
Use High-Quality photos
It is advisable to provide high-quality images for your accommodations. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” While Google only requires you to showcase five images per property, it is recommended to include more photos that can give potential guests a better understanding of your offering.
To create an attractive appeal, consider hiring a professional photographer or using home staging techniques. This will ensure that your accommodation looks visually appealing not just on Google Vacation Rentals but also on your own website.
As technology advances, guests are expecting better visual representation of the property they are interested in. Hence it’s recommended to use at least Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) images as a minimum requirement.
Conclusion
Google Vacation Rentals is a highly esteemed distribution channel among property managers, and for justifiable reasons. As the world’s biggest search engine, Google is fast becoming a go-to platform for travelers seeking to book their trips.
Leveraging this platform presents an opportunity to gain widespread exposure for your brand and listings on a global scale, as well as access commission-free direct bookings. It would be remiss not to seize such an advantageous opportunity.
