Google Ads for hotels: brand vs non-brand campaigns

Two types of demand, two types of campaigns

When a guest enters the name of your hotel in Google, it is brand demand: the guest already knows about you and is looking for a way to book. When a guest is looking for a "hotel in Istria" or "boutique hotel Croatia", it is non-brand demand: the guest is looking for a category or destination, not a specific hotel.

In Google Ads, these two types of demand require separate campaigns with different goals, budgets, and measurement methods.

Brand campaigns: capturing existing demand

Brand campaigns target name searches of your own hotel and name variations. Searches of competing hotels should be classified separately; they are not your own hotel’s brand demand. Their role:

• present the official offer when the guest asks for the name of the hotel, depending on the auction and settings
• offer the guest a direct route to the official booking with other search results
• guide guests to the booking engine rather than an OTA listing

Brand campaigns usually have a high ROAS and low cost per click. This does not mean that advertising "creates" this traffic: some of these guests could find a hotel without ads, but this share should be checked. Brand campaigns are a protection and a guide, not a generator of new demand.

Non-brand campaigns: build demand

Non-brand campaigns target destination searches, accommodation categories and offers:

• "Hotel with swimming pool Istria"
• Wine Hotel Croatia
• Wellness hotel for the weekend

These campaigns can reach guests who have not yet chosen a hotel. The category search itself does not reveal whether the guest knows your brand. Check ROAS and the cost of clicks in your own data; do not expect the same result in advance as on hotel name searches.

Important: the contribution of non-brand campaigns is often not visible only in last-click attribution. The guest can click on a non-brand ad, explore the website, leave, return via organic traffic and book directly.

Campaigns by source market

A hotel that receives guests from Germany, Italy, Austria and the domestic market needs separate campaigns or groups of ads by market. Reasons:

• Different languages and messages
• Different seasonality of demand
• different value of booking by market
• Different cost per click

The monthly report should show the result by market, not just the total figures.

Remarketing

Remarketing again reaches a portion of previous visitors, depending on consents, platform rules, and the available audience. It is an audience targeting approach, not a synonym for non-brand search. Efficiency should be checked with frequency, cost and confirmed bookings.

Remarketing requires properly configured audiences in GA4 and connection to the booking engine.

Why clicks are not enough

The Google Ads platform displays clicks, impressions, CTR and estimated conversions. For hotel management, this is not enough. It is necessary to monitor:

• confirmed bookings from booking engine
• Revenue by campaign
• cost per reservation
• the average value of the booking

Without GA4 tracking and ecommerce events in the booking engine, Google Ads shows only the tip of the iceberg.

ROAS: useful, but not enough

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) shows how much revenue is attributed to the campaign relative to spending. High ROAS on brand campaigns is expected. Low ROAS on non-brand campaigns does not automatically mean that the campaign is not working: it may be contributing to the earlier stages of the decision.

ROAS should be read with:

• number of bookings (not only revenue)
• cost per reservation
• Seasonality
• Share Brand vs Non-Brand Demand

Incremental Growth

The real question for non-brand campaigns is not “what is ROAS”, but “how many additional bookings the campaign brings beyond those the hotel would achieve without it”. It is more difficult to measure, but more important for budget decisions.

Testing (e.g. geo-holdout tests or periodic budget cuts) can give an indication, but requires sufficient data volume and patience.

Booking monitoring: technical prerequisite

In order for brand and non-brand campaigns to make sense in reports, it is necessary to:

1. Cross-domain tracking between the website and the booking engine
2. Purchase event with booking value
3. Conversions in Google Ads related to GA4
4. Regular data validation

More about this in the article What a hotel should track in GA4 and the booking engine.

Practical conclusion

Separate brand and non-brand campaigns. Track bookings, not just clicks. Read ROAS with context. And don’t expect non-brand campaigns to have the same numbers as brand campaigns: these are different tools for different stages of the booking journey.

To review your existing campaigns, request a hotel audit.

Source for technical verification

Google Ads: about keywords. Adjust the reporting division to the actual search terms and hotel goals.