Welcome to our first Travel Newsletter! We hope our insights and research will help you confidently build and expand your online campaigns.
We look forward to hearing your comments - travel-uk-newsletter@google.com
The online market has rapidly become the number one resource for the travel consumer. Google recently released a study [include hyperlink to the one pager] which it conducted with ComScore and from it we can glean new insights and improve our understanding of the online consumer path to purchase. The study primarily focuses on the UK. According to the study, there were 20 million online travel searchers in the first quarter of 2007, 41% of the UK's total population! These searchers conducted a total of 374 million searches and spent more than $1billion online. As we move into a new year, it is becoming increasingly important to understand customers' needs and their online behavior....
We are seeing some very interesting trends within the Airline sector online. It is becoming increasingly important to make the online booking process as easy and as enjoyable as possible. Customers expect to see the flight price itemized and overall the industry has seen the margins thinning...
This sub-vertical was lagging behind other sub-verticals in the travel industry in early 2007. Hoteliers have subsequently significantly increased their investment in search marketing. This engagement continued over previous marketing of best rate guarantee and a desire to control costs via effective, ROI driven...
2007 was the year OTAs shifted product focus from air to hotel. Due to increased competition from both suppliers and package holiday operators, OTAs sought to exploit their expertise and online presence in the hotel sector due to higher margin and growth opportunities resulting from...
There were some exciting developments in the tour operating sector. Most significant was the news that the major four tour operators had merged into two. There are redistribution challenges in the months leading up to the coming summer as a result of these mergers. The two groups...
The car hire sector is experiencing an online boom. Last year '11 percent or 3.6 million overseas visitors [used] a rental car in the UK.'1 Car hire search queries continue to grow, possibly as a result of stronger partnerships between car hire companies and airlines. Consequently, online platforms are becoming increasingly profitable. Car hire companies...
January 2008 witnessed the highest travel online query volumes ever recorded, with 12% year-on-year growth against the previous high in January 2007, and a 71% month-on-month increase against December 2007.
Here are some of our Account strategist's top tips:
- Include focused, tightly themed campaigns for effective budget distribution. Campaigns at COUNTRY level work most effectively unless it's a strategic campaign.
- Tightly themed, granular ad groups allow more targeted creative. Ad groups should be at CITY level unless it's a strategic campaign.
How will travelers search, review, share experiences and book online tomorrow?
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