Skift Take
For Google, the new program means it has the potential to become even more of a central hub for the travel industry as it can offer hotel-booking functionality to its massive base of users on desktop and mobile, in search and maps. Just wait until Google integrates flights and hotels. That's coming too.
And so it begins as travelers can now book some hotels right on Google Search, Google Maps and Google+.
The "Book on Google" initiative initially comes through a partnership with Sabre, which is running a beta in North America, allowing its hotel partners to choose to pay commissions to Google and Sabre for credit card transactions that Google handles right on Google platforms.
Alternately, hotels can continue to pay for clicks instead of paying commissions to Google through Google Hotel Ads. The latter program now offers both commission and cost-per click payment programs.
You can expect other hotel central reservations systems to sign up for the Google program, meaning Google can ramp up Book on Google, formerly called Google Wallet, at scale when it chooses to do so. Sabre, for example, has 20,000 hotels hooked up to its system, although it will be up to the hotels whether they want to partic
