Latest Google Travel Whitepaper

ADVERTISING TRAVEL PRODUCTS TO MULTI-SCREEN CONSUMERS
Many travel companies are struggling with the speed of change in the mobile sector and in assessing the scale of the mobile opportunity, in deciding when and how much to invest in mobile, and whether to build mobile optimized sites and/or apps. The travel path to purchase is becoming increasingly complex in a multi-screen world, where customers jump not only from site to site but also from device to device in their online travel-purchasing journey.

The shift from desktop-only towards the use of multiple devices to access the Internet has radically changed how consumers engage with digital content and when they choose to do it. It is no longer an activity we solely conduct either at home or our work via a desktop computer, but is something which now also happens on the train, bus, in a café with friends, everywhere possible.

In this whitepaper we have seen evidence that usage behavior varies by device, which in turn has made the travel-purchasing process highly complex and therefore challenging for advertisers to fully grasp and benefit from. The only common denominator across all devices is that we, as users, expect to have our needs for information and services fulfilled immediately in a seamless and intuitive way. Travel advertisers must meet these expectations in order for their multi-platform strategies to become successful.

You can access the whitepaper here.

Posted by Jonas Vang Gregersen, Senior Industry Analyst UK.

Last-minute travel has gone mobile

This summer we have seen a notable shift towards the use of mobile devices, when the Brits search for last-minute travel products. For certain types of products, up to 40% of all Google queries are made on either a tablet or other high-end mobile device. We encourage online marketers to align their activities accordingly to ensure full capture of traffic which comes through Search on all devices. Please find more details about our findings at this link.

Posted by Jonas Vang Gregersen, Sr. Industry Analyst

Curious how Google+ can work for Travel brands?

We're pleased to announce a new case study for how LateRooms.com has found success with Google+. A few of the top highlights from the study include: Approaching 600k followers Several posts have been re-shared over 2,500 times and have received 500 comments A 9% CTR uplift with social extensions on their Brand campaign. Take a look at the blogpost here and download the full case study to see more results and quotes from LateRooms.com! Posted by Erica Trittschuh, Industry Manager UK.

More travel research for you to explore

Want to understand how search drives travel purchases? To compare mobile and desktop use? To understand more about the ROPO effect: research online, purchase offline. Or perhaps you want to deep-dive into the travel market in a particular country? Think Insights is home to the latest insights from a wide range of industries including the travel sector. The site houses case studies and thoughts from leaders to help you develop your travel digital strategy. And now the site has expanded to cover 21 different countries, across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. You can now search our expanded library by country and by sector, making the latest travel research even easier to find. Plus, there are new tools and videos for you to explore, including: two videos on the consumer journey looking at ROPO and attribution. Check out this video to see how the newly expanded Think Insights website can help you. And follow Think on Google+. Posted by Claire Martin, Product Marketing Manager, Google UK

London Olympics 2012

We are pleased to release our latest travel whitepaper, "London Olympics 2012". This paper analyses the impact of the Olympic Games and other major sporting events on the UK Travel Industry.

The objectives of this paper are to study the impact of the Olympic Games on both UK inbound and outbound tourism. In addition, the paper also considers some of the factors around the legacy of the Games. We have made recommendations based on the analysis and identified the key trends that we are seeing in the market

You can access the whitepaper here.

Many thanks!

Posted by Anish Acharya, Industry Analyst, UK.