‘Book On Google’ Service Option To Be Shut Down Due To Low Engagement

Due to poor market response from both partners and customers, Google has decide to discontinue its “Book on Google” hotel booking service option from 25 May onwards.

In 2015, Google introduced this feature to make transactions easier for hotels and online travel agencies whose websites were not mobile-friendly. While the responsibility of the booking remains with the partners that provide the “Book on Google” link, the reservation and payment information were gathered in a Google-hosted form and subsequently transferred straight to the partner.

“When we first launched Book on Google for hotels, we wanted to give users an easier way to complete their bookings, while also driving more conversions for our partners,” said a Google spokesperson.

“But over time, we’ve seen that most people prefer to book directly on partner websites, whether through the hotel itself or with an OTA. So this May, we’ll be shutting down the Book on Google feature for hotels as we continue investing in broader improvements to our hotel search product. Our product philosophy is centered around creating the best possible experience for people who are exploring and researching travel. If we find that a particular feature isn’t serving that goal, then we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Google switched its resources to focus on booking link integrations after seeing minimal interaction from both partners and customers.

With the advent of “Things to Do,” Google updated its search and booking tool for tours, events, and attractions. That new service, which has both free and paid booking links from a variety of merchants, took the place of “Book with Google”.