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OTAs

OTAs take on Google Vacation Rentals asking EU to investigate anti-competitive platform

OTAs take on Google Vacation Rentals asking EU to investigate anti-competitive platform
mm
Amy Hinote
February 10, 2020

According to Bloomberg, Expedia Group Inc., TripAdvisor Inc. and more than 30 vacation rental providers asked the European Union to investigate how Google shows vacation rentals, claiming it unfairly gets a prominent placing above other search results.

As Google continues to roll out its Google Vacation Rentals OneBox search, organic search results for consumers’ queries are being pushed further down search engine results pages (SERPs), and direct traffic to both OTAs and to vacation rental companies is dropping off significantly in affected markets, causing a notable decline in direct bookings. 

In an open letter, these OTAs and vacation rental companies assert that Google is “favoring its own service in general search results pages” by displaying ads “in a visually-rich OneBox” showing pictures, a map preview, ratings and prices. The display “secures Google’s service more user attention and clicks than any competing service may acquire.”

Related: SEO/SEM Disrupted: Google Shakes up the Marketing Funnel
Related: NYT: Google’s Holiday Rental Service Under Fire as 40 Rivals Urge EU Antitrust Action
 

Must Read for Vacation Rental Management Companies: Read the Entire Letter to the EU Commissioner

According to the letter, “The competition concerns arise from the fact that Google features its new product in a visually-rich OneBox at the top of its general search results pages – a ranking and display that Google reserves only for its own specialized search service. The prominent feature includes pictures, a map preview, ratings and prices – a user experience like any other vacation rentals search service. As the Commission established in its Google Search (Shopping) decision, such favourable ranking and display secures Google’s service more user attention and clicks than any competing service may acquire, even if these are more relevant for the user’s search query.

“Google Vacation Rentals is a direct competitor to our specialized services. There may be some form of cooperation but ultimately both Google Vacation Rentals and our platforms compete on all fronts for the intermediation between vacation homes and holiday seekers. We all compete for the attention of the same users. We also all compete – sometimes on different levels of this market – for either original content
providers such as property/channel managers or providers of vacation rentals such as home owners or real estate companies. But none of us Google rivals is capable of resorting to a favouring within the results pages of the standard Internet search engine to bundle these two user groups of consumers and properties. We see strong indications of a competitive strategy for Google to reduce us and our industry to mere content providers for the “one-stop-shop” of Google’s new product…”

The letter further outlines Google’s anti-competitive behavior in its Google Vacation Rentals platform, stating, “Google’s conduct will have a massive detrimental effect on the industry. Due to Google’s general search service being the first port of call for most Internet users, almost all specialized search service providers are dependent on being findable in Google Search. By pushing, at no costs, its own service above those of its rivals in general search results pages, Google can convey its service an economic advantage that none of us can compete with or outbalance through other investments or innovations. Google is increasingly providing the relevant vacation rental intermediation service directly within its results pages. This will ultimately render any click through to a competing intermediation service unnecessary. These services will be reduced to mere content providers for Google’s rival service. This disables them from gathering the data required to enhance their search and matching algorithms, to identify user needs and to improve the user experience.”

Google said in a statement that it is testing a new format for specialized searches in Europe “where people might see a carousel of links to direct sites across the top of search results.”
 
“This is designed to demonstrate the range of results available,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email to Bloomberg. “Search results are designed to provide the most relevant information for your query.”
 
Amber Carpenter will be at VRM Intel Live! Gatlinburg, February 26, to discuss the changes at Google and the threat these changes pose for vacation rental managers. 
Related Itemsanti-trustchangescompetitiveEUFeaturedgoogleintermediationsearchvacation rental
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OTAs
February 10, 2020
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Amy Hinote @vrmintel

Amy Hinote is the founder and editor-in-chief of VRM Intel Magazine, which provides news, information and resources for the professionally managed vacation rental industry. With a background in finance and over 15 years in the vacation rental industry, Hinote has worked with property management companies, technology companies, intermediaries and investors, and provides insider information about the growing vacation rental industry. She also founded the data company, now known as Key Data Dashboard, which provides aggregated market intelligence and reporting for vacation rental managers. Hinote resides between Alabama's Gulf Coast and Evanston, Illinois.

Related Itemsanti-trustchangescompetitiveEUFeaturedgoogleintermediationsearchvacation rental

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