Google Eliminated Commission Bidding—Here’s How to Make Metasearch Work for Your Hotel

For years, online travel agencies (OTAs) have been a necessary part of the hotel distribution mix. They provide visibility, but at a steep cost—charging 15-25% per booking while owning the guest relationship, marketing data, and future loyalty opportunities. You’ve likely invested heavily in direct booking strategies, but if metasearch isn’t a key part of your plan, you’re leaving money on the table.

With Google eliminating commission-based bidding and the industry shifting toward AI-driven performance marketing, the hotels that adapt their metasearch strategy now will gain a competitive edge, while those that hesitate will pay more in OTA commissions and acquisition costs.

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Why Metasearch is the Gamechanger You Can’t Ignore

Metasearch platforms let travelers compare hotel rates across multiple channels, including direct booking links and OTA listings.

But here’s the problem: OTAs actively bid against your brand name on metasearch platforms, ensuring their listings appear before yours. That means even when a traveler searches for your hotel, they often end up booking through an OTA instead of your website.

This results in:

• Lost revenue from OTA commissions
• Higher acquisition costs as OTAs outbid your direct rates
• No guest data ownership—making remarketing and loyalty efforts harder

A strong metasearch strategy lets you compete directly with OTAs, ensuring travelers see and book the hotel’s official direct rate instead.

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Google’s Commission Model is Gone—What to Know

For years, Google Hotel Ads’ Commissions (Per Stay) and Commissions (Per Conversion) models provided a low-risk way for hotels to bid on metasearch—only paying for bookings once a guest completed their stay.

But Google removed these commission models, forcing you to switch to:

• Cost-per-click (CPC) – Paying per ad click, regardless of whether it converts.
• Target return on ad spend (tROAS) – Setting a revenue goal and letting Google adjust bids accordingly.

This means:

• You must optimize your bidding strategy or risk overpaying for clicks.
• Competition will increase, driving up costs for those who don’t adapt.
• More manual oversight is required unless you use AI-powered automation.

Without a well-executed transition strategy, you risk losing visibility and control—leading to more OTA bookings and higher acquisition costs.

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How You Can Win More Direct Bookings

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1. Keep Using Commission-Based Bidding (With the Right Partner)

While Google eliminated commission-based bidding, Sojern continues to offer commission-based metasearch solutions, allowing hotels to pay only for completed stays—not clicks.

For hotels that have relied on Google’s commission model, we provide a seamless transition, ensuring you:

• Avoid upfront costs and bidding risks
• Continue paying only for actual revenue generated
• Protect your profit margins while remaining competitive on metasearch

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2. Expand Beyond Google—Maximize Multi-Platform Visibility

Many hotels focus only on Google Hotel Ads, but travelers research across multiple platforms. If you’re not present on Tripadvisor, Trivago, KAYAK, Skyscanner, Bing, and Wego, you’re losing direct bookings to OTAs that are bidding there.

A multi-platform strategy ensures:

• Your hotel is visible across the entire traveler booking journey
• You increase brand awareness while maintaining rate integrity
• You capture more high-intent travelers looking for the best direct rate

Hotels that advertise on multiple metasearch platforms see higher conversion rates and lower cost-per-acquisition.

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3. Use AI-Driven Automation for Smarter CPC Bidding

If you’re shifting to CPC bidding, manually adjusting bids across multiple platforms is time-consuming and inefficient. AI-powered automation ensures you’re bidding smarter, not harder.

Our machine learning algorithms analyze:

• Traveler search intent – Identifying high-converting audiences
• Real-time market trends – Adjusting bids to optimize ROI
• Competitor pricing shifts – Ensuring your direct rate stays competitive

With over 70,000 real-time predictions per second, our AI-powered metasearch solution optimizes performance and reduces wasted ad spend, so you can focus on strategy, not daily bid management.

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4. Leverage Google Free Booking Links for Cost-Free Direct Bookings

Google’s Free Booking Links allow hotels to appear in organic search results, driving direct bookings without paid ads.

Unlike some metasearch providers that charge commission on these free bookings, we do not—ensuring you keep 100% of the revenue from these high-value placements.

Many hotels ignore this free opportunity—but it’s an essential part of a cost-effective direct booking strategy.

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5. Take Back Control from OTAs and Reduce Commissions

Metasearch doesn’t just drive direct bookings—it’s an essential tool for brand protection.

Hotels that don’t actively bid on metasearch risk:

• OTAs controlling their brand name in search results
• Higher OTA commissions due to lost direct bookings
• Inability to market directly to high-value guests

With a well-optimized metasearch strategy, hotels can:

• Outbid OTAs for direct bookings at a lower acquisition cost
• Reduce OTA commissions and reinvest in owned marketing channels
• Take control of guest relationships, increasing loyalty and repeat stays

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Why Leading Hotels Partner with Sojern for Metasearch

With Google’s commission model ending, hotels must pivot quickly—or risk losing direct revenue to OTAs.

We help hotels:

• Continue using commission-based bidding, even as Google eliminated it
• Expand beyond Google to reach travelers across multiple metasearch engines
• Use AI-powered automation to make CPC bidding more efficient
• Maximize Free Booking Links for cost-free revenue growth
• Reduce OTA reliance and own the guest relationship

Hotels that act now will gain a competitive advantage—those that wait will see higher acquisition costs and more reliance on OTAs.

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Take Action: Build a Smarter Metasearch Strategy Today

Metasearch is no longer optional—it’s the foundation of a profitable direct booking strategy. Are you ready to take control of your metasearch performance?

‍Let’s chat to help you develop a cost-effective, high-ROI metasearch strategy tailored to your hotel’s needs.