Google Updates Hotel Policy: New Requirements for Room Rates and Availability
Google is revising its hotel prohibited practices policy to include specific guidelines for displaying room availability and rates. Effective February 17, 2025, the policy mandates that:
- Final room availability and rates must be visible before any user information is collected. This requires implementing live pricing and availability checks on the booking page.
- There should be no changes in price after users have provided their personal information. If the initially quoted rate becomes unavailable, reservations should be completed without altering the cost for the user.
Google highlights that non-compliance may lead to account suspension.
Additional Policy Clarifications
- Duplicate Hotel Center Accounts: Creating multiple accounts to divide inventory is strictly forbidden.
- Suspension Clause: Google is updating its suspension clause to provide clearer and more transparent guidelines.
These changes require those using Google’s hotel center and platform to ensure they adhere strictly to the updated policies.
It’s worth noting that Google recently granted European hotels the option to hide pricing details from their search results.
