DBM & Google - FAQs

How can I track bookings?
Tracking any new business generation from Free Booking Links is easy in Guestline Insights, using a mixture of filters and visualisations on the Booking Pickup, Revenue Pickup and Booking Cancellations reports. Bookings register as channel ‘DBM’ with a Media Source Code of ‘GFBL’.

For full information: click here

You can also use the Daily New Reservations report within Rezlynx which allows you to filter bookings by media source code.

Note: media source codes are required to be set up for reporting to work.

 

How can I track traffic to DBM?
You can track the traffic coming to your DBM site from Free Booking Links using their Google Analytics account or a similar web analytics platform.

This works using UTM codes which are automatically included on the links from Google to DBM.

What data is sent to Google? 

• Property information - name, address, postcode, country, telephone number & location co-ordinates
• DBM room, availability, and rates information (based on the value set in 'Availability Update Window (days)' on DBM interface settings)

Can I choose which rates to send to Google?
Google Direct feeds DBM rates directly to Google. Due to Google's data quality and parity rules, whatever is available in the data feed should match exactly what is available in the booking engine.

The advantages are that Google Direct by Guestline maintains and exceeds the requirements for Google's data quality rules, and importantly there is no additional configuration required in Guestline PMS or Distribution.

 

Will Google Direct show on the Distribution Monitoring page?
No. Automated monitoring is in place for all active connections to ensure ARI data is successfully delivered to Google. Should any issues be detected, alerts are in place to immediately flag this to the development team to resolve.

How do I show ‘Free cancellation’ on Google?
We’re working on supporting this feature and hope to have it available soon.

 

How do I show ‘Free Breakfast’ on Google?
This feature isn’t supported by Guestline right now.

 

How do I show ‘Free wi-fi’ on Google?
This feature isn’t supported by Guestline right now.

 

How do I show ‘Free parking’ on Google?
This feature isn’t supported by Guestline right now.

Pending update…

 

Do I need a Google Hotel Center account?
Not if you are using Google Direct by Guestline.

​​​​​​​You do not need a Google Hotel Center account for Free Booking Links when using a connectivity partner. In this case, Guestline is the connectivity partner.

 

How do I add custom lines of text on Google?
Adding custom lines of text, such as those highlighted in yellow below, is possible for paid Google Hotel Ads only. The text can be set up and customised in your Google Ads account when managing the ad campaign. It is not possible to add custom text to Free Booking Links​​​​​​.

 

Which address/contact details are used?
​​​​​​​Address/contact details are used to match the property to Google.

The following fields are used. These are located on the Hotel Information page in Distribution Hub.

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1. Verify that the Google connection is activated for the property (check the Google Direct toggle is enabled on the DBM channel on the Interface Settings page in Distribution Hub)
2. Verify that there is availability for the dates and occupancy selected. You may not have chosen any dates or occupancy, Google sets default selections like below:
   
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You can verify availability by doing a search on the property’s DBM site for the same dates and occupancy.​​​​​​​

If you still don’t see the Free Booking Link:

• Ensure that you don’t have the ‘Free cancellation only’ check box ticked on Google
• Try changing the check-in/check-out dates on Google
• If you are on Google Search Results, in some scenarios, Google chooses to display paid booking links only. In this scenario, you should see a blue ‘Book’ button which opens a modal where you should see the Free Booking Link displayed under ‘All options'
• It is possible that the only available rate for the dates/occupancy selected includes a length of stay (LOS) discount. Rates with such rules are currently not synced to Google.

 

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