Technology : MetaMediaries
Given the
online travel
past decade ’ s experience with
agencies , the hotel industry is paying close attention to the moves being made in the travel sphere by tech giants like Apple , Facebook , Google and Microsoft — especially on mobile .
While the metamediaries ’ search and social media products are now deeply integrated into hotel companies ’ strategies , mobile is still only in its initial stages . With consumers ’ ever-growing use of mobile — both with telephones and tablets — comes the very real race of the platform itself , the phone and its operating system . With Google ’ s increasing market share with its Android-based phones comes its ability to satisfy the convenience demand of users with its semantic search development , Google Now . Combine that with Apple ’ s Siri and Microsoft ’ s Cortana , and it is easy to see why Amazon found it so critical to join the fray with its new Fire Phone .
So what is all the interest in semantic search , that new interactive way all this voice assistance works ? Quite simply , it ’ s the path of most convenience . Typing , searching , navigating , basically anything physically interactive with a mobile device is less convenient than simply asking and being told what is wanted . Semanticbased search makes this possible .
With the growing percentage of online bookings coming from mobile , the increase in voice-commanded smartphones would seem like a very positive development for hotel companies given the steps they have taken to establish a mobile presence . But given how mobile and search are changing , what content mix should hotel companies offer for optimal visibility ?
Google shakes up search , mobile Google is the largest player in search with almost 70 % of all search volume , and recently the hotel industry has seen dramatic changes from Google . First was the securing of searches , effectively ending the use of keywords for website optimization . Then came the release of the Mockingbird update to its search engine , maximizing the use of schema . With the advent of schema comes a more robust ability to display specific content as it relates to the intent of a search , not just the words used . With the carousel display and a refinement of the search engine yet again with the Pigeon update , more specific details are being used to refine the results given in search engine results placement ( SERP ). Add to this Google ’ s Hotel Price Ads ( HPA ) program showing real-time rates and inventory availability , and it is apparent that without hyper-specific location-based data and active bid management within HPA even the most relevant content will not show on a mobile SERP page above the
“ fold ,” but be certain all of Google ’ s data choices will .
Remember the path to the most convenient ? In the current world of big data Google knows a lot about consumers — even more so if they use the host of services Google provides such as Gmail , all of which require a Google account to use .
Consumers already can receive a flight confirmation or hotel confirmation in Gmail and check in right from the email thanks to the addition of new schema coding . Now imagine the consumer asks Google Now about hotels at the intended destination . The mobile device will then check on the person ’ s optimal choices based on personal data it has recorded and then allows the consumer to select and purchase via Google Wallet with no typing , no forms to fill and no search results to sort through . The consumer just says , “ book it .”
Since Google already has the consumer ’ s method of payment , travel history , preferences and even reward membership information , imagine the convenience of a notification from Google Now that it has already looked for and found the best flights available and transportation service such as Uber ( currently integrated ), and all the consumer has to do is confirm the choices . So what just happened to search results and rankings , or using all those apps the hotel companies created for consumers to keep on their phones for booking ? Put simply , the convenience the
www . hotelsmag . com October2014 HOTELS 51