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Guides for hotel distribution and direct bookings

Practical guides for owners, general managers and revenue teams at branded and franchised hotels: what OTAs really cost, how their visibility programs work, how paid channels perform and where your direct channel can grow.

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Start here · Guide · OTA Performance

How Booking.com ranking works

The ranking factors Booking.com names, what your hotel controls, and five priorities before you pay for Genius, Preferred or ads.

Updated · 7 min read

Latest

  • Guide · Distribution costs

    What OTA commissions really cost

    What Booking.com and Expedia charge commission on, how discounts and visibility programs add to the cost, and a worked example from rate to net.

    Updated · 5 min read
  • Guide · Paid channels

    Google Hotel Ads, explained

    How paid hotel ads and free booking links differ, the bid strategies Google lists today, and a worked example of cost per booking and ROAS.

    Updated · 5 min read
  • Article · Distribution costs

    Finding rate parity gaps

    What counts as a like-for-like price, how parity differs from Google price accuracy, and a step-by-step way to investigate a lower OTA rate.

    Updated · 5 min read
  • Article · OTA Performance

    Booking.com promotions that pay

    The deal types Booking.com offers hotels, how discounts combine, the one that buys ranking, and a worked example of what a 10% deal costs.

    Updated · 4 min read
  • Article · Distribution costs

    Direct vs. OTA: cost per booking

    Compare equivalent bookings, count each cost once, and see why average, marginal and incremental cost lead to different channel decisions.

    Updated · 5 min read
  • Article · Branded hotels

    Marketing a franchised hotel

    Who usually does what between brand and property, where property-level marketing adds value, and a checklist to complete before you invest.

    Updated · 3 min read
  • Article · OTA Performance

    Expedia TravelAds vs. Accelerator

    How Expedia ranks hotels, how its two paid visibility tools differ in payment, placement and goals, and the signals to review or stop a test.

    Updated · 4 min read

OTA commission calculator

Estimate what OTA commissions cost your hotel each year from room revenue, the OTA share of that revenue and your weighted average commission.

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