Recently, one of our Digital Marketing Managers noticed a change to Trivago’s user interface. This change is the inclusion of a ‘Cheapest Deal’ slot within the Trivago hotel rate card.
Trivago has stated that the test is currently live only on 20% of the traffic for several markets including: Australia, United Kingdom and the United States. As you can see in the example below, this is an addition to the top position and blue hotel website slot we have become accustomed to viewing.
The test indicates Trivago is looking to bring the cheapest deal to the forefront, keeping inline with Trivago’s ambitions of being the traveler’s first and independent source of information for finding the ideal hotel.
By ensuring the cheapest rate is always displayed, Trivago has created a big draw for their users by giving them the confidence that they have found the best rate possible.
What does this mean for you?
If the test is rolled out, we predict several scenarios that will have a positive effect on your digital marketing.
Scenario 1 – You have the cheapest rate and best bid.
The best outcome for a hotel advertiser. With this scenario, you may, hypothetically, own the entire rate card with the cheapest price and best cpc bid potentially displaying in three positions.
Scenario 2 – You have the cheapest rate but a non-competitive bid.
This would also work in a hotel advertisers favor. Previously, if you were out-bid by others then this would decrease the probability that your ad would be displayed. However, with the cheapest rate, you can still ensure an ad presence by appearing in the cheapest deal slot which would lead you to a lower advertising spend.
Scenario 3 – A high bid ensures an ad presence.
This scenario is the closest to what you are currently seeing. Here, your ad will appear in either the top position or the hotel website slot if you do not have the cheapest rate. This still ensures some traffic to your website without the prominent message of having the cheapest rate.
It’s all about rate competitiveness.
As we have talked about this before– the importance of competitive rates, and the impact it has on metasearch performance–, and we see this again with Trivago’s test: the importance for hotel advertisers to ensure the best rate is displayed.
If the’Chepaest Deal’ is rolled out by Trivago, we are sure to see a positive impact in the traffic volume for hotel advertisers who work hard to have the most competitive rates.
