Hotels jostling for visibility on TripAdvisor can now buy their way to the top through the platform’s Sponsored Placements offering.
With Sponsored Placements, accommodations providers can purchase sponsored listings that live above search results to increase views to their properties as well as drive booking referrals.
Hotels subscribed to TripAdvisor’s Business Advantage program can operate the campaign by choosing among three monthly cost-per-click budget options, though customizable budgets will be available in the future.
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They set their own ad allowance, and ads are automatically targeted to consumers searching for relevant properties in any given city; hotels are only charged for clicks their ads receive.
The idea is for accommodations providers to catch users in a crucial booking-ready state during their path to purchase.
TripAdvisor says the majority of Sponsored Placement clicks go to the property's page on the platform, and "from here, users are able to contact the business and make a booking directly via their Business Advantage contact details, or book via a number of commerce partners, which could include booking directly with the hotel if they participate in TripAdvisor’s meta auction."
Prior to its official launch, TripAdvisor beta tested Sponsored Placements for three months, during which the company says more than 10,000 accommodations owners starting using the service for ad campaigns in more than 5,500 destinations.
According to TripAdvisor, 60% of all online travel purchasers visit TripAdvisor before booking a hotel. The company says that by investing in its new advertising solution, "business owners can increase their visibility in front of travelers in active trip-planning mode and more easily convert them into guests by making their property stand out from competitors."