About impression share for hotel ads

Hotel ads impression share is calculated based on where your ad appears in the hotel ads booking module.

If you're not familiar with the difference between Hotel ads and search ads, learn about what makes up a Hotel ad. If you're not running a Hotel campaign, learn about impression share.

Hotel ads impression share overview

Hotel ads that place in an auction may appear in a top slot or a menu slot of the hotel ads booking module.

The top slot features ads that are in the top position in the auction, including the ad with absolute top impression share , which is the very first ad shown in the hotel ads booking module.

When a traveller clicks "View more prices" from the top slot, the menu slot appears. The menu slot contains additional hotel ads.

Hotel ads impression share metrics

Hotel ads use the same metric names as other campaigns to report on impression share, with the difference being that the hotel campaign metrics apply only to the hotel ads booking module and not organic search.

Search impression share

Impression share (IS) is the percentage of impressions that your ads receive compared to the total number of impressions that your ads could get.

Impression share = impressions / total eligible impressions

Hotel eligible impressions are estimated using many factors, including price accuracy and itinerary coverage.

In Hotel Centre, the participation rate helps you measure how many opportunities your property had to receive a hotel eligible impression in Google Ads. Your participation rate is not the same as impression share, since your impression share uses factors that also include auction dynamics like bid price and budget.

• An opportunity occurs when a hotel listing matches the location and other specifics of a user's itinerary.
• Participation means a property is a good match for an opportunity, and will enter the Google Ads auction.
• The participation rate is a percentage, calculated by dividing the number of successfully participated opportunities by the total number of opportunities.

Impression share data is available for campaigns, ad groups and hotel groups. Impression share is a good way to understand whether your ads might reach more people if you increase your bid or budget.

Note: Search impression share is unavailable for certain dimensions, including 'Country/Territory User Location'.

Search top impression share

Search top impression share ('Search top IS') is the impressions that you've received in the top slot compared to the estimated number of impressions that you were eligible to receive in the top location.

Search top impression share = Impressions on top/eligible impressions on top

Search absolute top impression share

Search absolute top impression share "Search abs. top IS" is the impressions that you have received in the absolute top location (the very first ad in the hotel ads booking module) divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location.

Absolute top-impression share = Impressions on absolute top/eligible impressions on top

Search lost impression share (rank)

Search lost impression share (rank) estimates how often your ad didn't show anywhere in the Hotel ads booking module – including the unexpanded menu slot – due to poor ad rank.

Tip: Compare impressions for the menu slot and the top slot

If a traveller didn't click on the menu slot, those impressions are reported as 'Lost IS (rank)' and indicate the position where the ad appeared. If a traveller did click on the menu slot, that position can be calculated as the impression share minus the top impression share.

Search lost impression share (budget)

Search lost impression share (budget) estimates how often your ad didn't show in the Hotel ads booking module due to budget.

Search lost top impression share (rank)

Search lost top impression share (rank) estimates how often your ad didn't show in the top slot of the Hotel ads booking module due to poor Ad Rank.

Search lost top impression share (budget)

Search lost top impression share (budget) helps you to understand how often your ad didn't show anywhere in the top slot of the Hotel ads booking module due to a low budget.

Search lost absolute top impression share (budget)

Search lost absolute top impression share (budget) estimates how often your ad wasn't the very first ad in the absolute top slot of the Hotel ads booking module due to a low budget.

Search lost absolute top impression share (rank)

Search lost absolute top impression share (rank) estimates how often your ad wasn't the very first ad in the absolute top slot of the hotel ads booking module owing to poor Ad Rank.

Tip: Compare impression metrics for Search and hotel campaigns

When both Search and hotel ads both show for the same traveller search, both are eligible for their own top slots and absolute top positions. When you select a search campaign, impression share metrics will indicate where the search ad placed within organic search results.

However, if you select a hotel campaign, impression share metrics indicate where the ad placed within the hotel ads booking module.

If you're running multiple campaigns, you can see your total impression share for your campaigns in Report Editor.

If you need help with your booking links, contact us or request to chat with a support specialist.