Google Ads
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Brand and non-brand campaigns play different roles in hotel marketing. Here is how to separate them, track them and interpret the results.
·4 min read
Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery
Meneghetti: +117% direct booking revenue
We took over the channels on 1 March 2026. Campaigns were running, but there was no single number for how many bookings and how much revenue each channel brings. Phobs sits on a different domain, so the guest’s source got lost on the way from the website. We fixed measurement first, then the campaigns.
Wine hotel and winery · Istria, Croatia · June 2026 vs June 2025. Source: GA4.
Case study
In short
Results
+117%
Direct booking revenue YoY
GA4, June 2026 vs June 2025
+121%
Number of direct bookings YoY
GA4, June 2026 vs June 2025
+69%
Number of sessions YoY
GA4, June 2026 vs June 2025
Period: June 2026 vs June 2025. Source: GA4.
The growth is not just from campaigns. Brand demand, organic traffic, the hotel’s offer and the season all work at the same time. This is one hotel’s result, not a promise.
Starting point
Bookings on Phobs, on a different domain from the website. Google Ads and Meta were running. There was no single number for how many bookings and how much revenue each channel and market brings.
What we do
- -Cross-domain between the website and Phobs
- -Five booking events in GA4, from Book now to purchase
- -Google Ads by market, brand split from non-brand
- -Meta for rooms, the hotel’s other offers and remarketing
- -Monthly report with priorities for the next month
Challenge
Every system counts a booking its own way. Google Ads credits it to the ad click. Meta credits it to its own ad, even when the guest finally came through Google. Only Phobs knows how many bookings there really were.
GA4 should connect those views, but Phobs is on a different domain. Without a cross-domain setup, a guest from the website enters Phobs as a new session and the booking ends up under direct or referral. The campaign that brought them disappears.
Not every enquiry is a room booking. Some guests call, send an email or book a table through OpenTable. That is interest, not revenue, and it is counted separately.
What we did
1. Cross-domain between the website and Phobs
A guest from the website enters Phobs in the same session. The campaign source stays visible until the booking is confirmed, as far as consent and the browser allow.
2. Five booking events
Same names in GA4 and in the report. We checked that purchase arrives once, with the correct amount and currency.
- -book_now_click - click on Book now on the website
- -view_item_list - available rooms for the selected dates
- -add_to_cart - selected room and price
- -begin_checkout - guest details
- -purchase - confirmed booking with transaction_id, value and currency
3. Micro-conversions kept separate
Clicks on phone, email, OpenTable and downloads are tracked as interest. They do not count as bookings or revenue.
4. Monthly report
Spend by channel and market, bookings, revenue, cost per booking, brand and non-brand, booking funnel. It ends with what we change next month: budget, market, offer or booking path.
Booking funnel
Five steps from a click on the website to a confirmed booking.
1
Book Now
Click from the website to Phobs.
2
Room views
Available rooms and prices for the selected dates.
3
Room selection
Room, rate or package.
4
Checkout
Guest details, terms and payment.
5
Confirmed booking
Purchase with amount, currency and transaction_id.
A big drop between two steps is not automatically a bug. First we look at availability, minimum stay and price for those dates, and only then at the tech.
Kampanje
Brand split from non-brand
The brand campaign catches guests who are already searching for Meneghetti. Its ROAS is high because some of those guests would have come without the ad. Its job is to stop an OTA ad from taking the guest on the hotel’s own name.
Non-brand goes after guests who are still choosing a destination or a wine hotel. It costs more and pays back more slowly. That is why we do not mix it with brand into one ROAS.
Markets and languages
Campaigns are split by source market and language. We compare markets by bookings, revenue and cost, not by clicks.
Google and Meta do different jobs
Google captures demand that already exists. Meta creates it: it shows the hotel and its other offers, and remarketing brings back people who were on the website or in Phobs.
So we do not judge Meta only on last-click bookings. But we also do not credit every booking Meta reports to Meta alone.
Where the growth comes from
Period: June 2026 vs June 2025. Source: GA4.
Project start: March 2026
+117% revenue, +121% bookings and +69% sessions. June 2026 vs June 2025, source GA4.
The growth is not just from campaigns. Brand demand, organic and direct traffic, the hotel’s offer, the season and the booking experience all work at the same time. We do not claim the full +117% came from ads.
Only these three numbers are public. We do not publish the hotel’s budgets or absolute figures.
What management can see now
- -Spend by channel and market
- -Confirmed bookings and revenue from Phobs
- -Cost per booking by channel
- -Brand and non-brand separately
- -Where guests drop off in the booking path
- -Enquiries by phone, email and OpenTable, separate from bookings
- -What we change next month
Limitations and attribution
Consent, ad blockers and multiple devices mean GA4 does not see every booking or every source. That is why Google Ads, Meta, GA4 and Phobs never show the same number.
Phobs confirms the number of bookings and the revenue. GA4 and the ad platforms are used for the source and the guest’s path.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the tracking setup take?
It depends on access: GTM, the website, the booking engine and the consent tool. We give a timeline after the review, not before.
Do you work with our web agency and booking provider?
Yes. We define what gets measured and at the end check that the data arrives. The web agency and booking provider make the changes in their own systems.
Can we get just tracking, without campaign management?
Yes, as a separate project. Monthly analysis, reporting and campaigns are then not included.
Do you work with booking engines other than Phobs?
Yes. The principle is the same: cross-domain, booking events and one purchase per booking. The only difference is how the engine sends data.
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