Google’s New Climate Push Won’t Penalize Hotels That Opt Out

Google’s plan to provide information on a hotel’s sustainability practices offers transparency amid the climate crisis. But non-participating hotel owners don’t need to worry about their placement on the search engine. Google will put an eco-badge of sorts next to a listing if sustainability-minded firms like GreenKey or EarthCheck have highlighted a hotel for its positive impact with environmental practices. Potential guests can even find out property-specific sustainability practices through the new feature, which will also be on Google Travel. Transparency is one thing, but the new sustainability metric isn’t expected to hold weight on how high up a property would appear on a search. Beyond saying susta