Your own booking page, with your own price, in the row of booking options on Google Search and Maps — next to the OTAs. Zitlin sends Google your rates and availability for you. No cost per click, no commission.
Look up almost any hotel on Google and you will find a short list of places to book it — Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, each with a price. Some of those rows are free booking links: Google charges nothing for the click. Your own booking page can be one of them.
The hard part has always been the plumbing. Google only shows a priced row if it is sent live rates and availability for every night, and keeps being sent them. Most independent hotels would need a channel manager or an integration partner just for that.
With Zitlin, you don't. Zitlin sends your rates and availability straight to Google Hotel Center, from the same calendar and prices your booking page already uses. A guest who taps your row lands on your own booking page, with their dates and guests already filled in, and books with you — no commission, no middleman.
How it works
- Your Google Business Profile is claimed and verified as a hotel, guest house, resort or B&B — that is your listing on Google Maps.
- Ask Zitlin to switch it on, from the app under Settings → Admin → Direct Bookings. We check your property is ready and turn it on.
- Zitlin sends Google your prices — for every room type, every night for the next year, for each number of adults — along with how many rooms are free and your stay rules.
- Guests see your price on Google next to the OTAs, tap it, and land on your booking page ready to book.
From then on it runs itself. A room sold at the desk, a new seasonal rate, a two-night minimum for a festival weekend — each reaches Google within minutes, and the whole year is resent every night as a safety net.
The Booking Page Google Sends Them To
The same price on Google and on your page — by design
Google regularly opens a hotel's booking page for a stay it has shown a price for and compares the two. A hotel whose prices don't match loses its place. So Zitlin doesn't keep a second price list for Google — it sends exactly what your booking page would quote:
- your room rate, with seasonal and weekday multipliers applied;
- the extra-adult surcharge, with a separate price for each number of adults;
- taxes included, the same way your invoice will charge them — Google gets the price before and after tax, and your booking page shows the guest the same tax-inclusive total;
- your minimum and maximum stay, closed-to-arrival and closed-to-departure days, and how far ahead guests may book.
And when your page can't take a booking — you switch direct bookings off, say — Zitlin takes your row off Google automatically, rather than leave Google showing a price you can't honour. It comes back on its own when the reason goes away.
What you need
- A live Zitlin booking page. It is free, and you can take bookings with or without a deposit.
- A verified Google Business Profile in a lodging category, with the same address and phone as Zitlin.
- Your address, description, cancellation policy and photos filled in — this is the page Google sends guests to, so it has to do the selling.
- Every booking in Zitlin. Google shows the rooms Zitlin says are free. Walk-ins, phone bookings and OTA bookings all belong in the same calendar — which is how a PMS should be used anyway.
What it costs
Nothing. No setup fee, no monthly fee, no cost per click and no commission on the stay. The guest pays you directly — by QR, bank transfer, PayPal or at the desk, exactly as on your booking page today.
See what Google brings in
Bookings from Google arrive like any other direct booking: On hold, with an email to you, confirmed with one tap. Each is labelled Google Hotel Ads on its folio, so the channel mix report shows exactly how much room revenue Google sent you, next to every other channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it cost? Nothing. Zitlin charges no fee for it, Google charges nothing per click on a free booking link, and there is no commission on the booking. You pay only your usual payment fee, if any, on the deposit.
Do I need a channel manager or a separate rate feed? No. Zitlin sends your rates and availability to Google itself, from the same prices and calendar your booking page uses. The channel manager is a separate, optional add-on for selling on OTAs.
What do I need on Google's side? A claimed and verified Google Business Profile in a lodging category, with an address and phone number that match the ones in Zitlin. Google attaches your booking row to that listing.
Will the price on Google match my booking page? Yes, by design. Both are worked out by the same code — your room rate, seasonal and weekday multipliers, the extra-adult surcharge and the room's tax — and Google is sent the after-tax price your guest will actually pay. Google checks this regularly, and a mismatch would cost you placement.
How quickly do changes reach Google? Within minutes of a booking, a rate change or a restriction, plus a full year's resync every night. A newly switched-on property takes up to about a week to first appear while Google matches it to its Maps listing.
Will my row appear above Booking.com? Not by right — Google orders the rows itself. The thing most in your control is the price. If your direct price is higher than an OTA's, the guest can see it; direct should never be the expensive option.
How do I switch it on? Ask from the app, under Settings → Admin → Direct Bookings, or write to support. The Zitlin team checks your property is ready — booking page live, address, map location, description, cancellation policy and photos — and switches it on. Properties are being switched on now as they are checked.
How do I know what Google brought in? Bookings from Google arrive on your booking engine like any other direct booking and are labelled Google Hotel Ads on the folio, so the channel mix report shows Google's room revenue next to your other channels.
Start with a free booking page
Google, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Business Profile and Google Hotel Center are trademarks of Google LLC. Zitlin is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Where and how Google displays booking links is decided by Google.