Overview
Google Hotel Ads (GHA) requires all partners — including direct hotel websites — to send a complete price breakdown: a base room rate, taxes, and mandatory fees. How Google then displays that price to the guest depends on where the guest is searching from. If your booking engine is not set up to match Google's expectations for your region, your direct rate may appear more expensive than OTA (Online Travel Agency) rates, even when the total cost is identical.
Understanding how regional display rules work helps you spot and resolve price mismatches before they affect your visibility on metasearch.
You can find more information about Google's Policy here.
How Google displays prices by region
United States and Canada
For guests searching in the US or Canada, Google prominently displays the base room rate, with mandatory non-governmental fees added to reach the total. This means Google expects your booking engine to clearly separate:
The base nightly room rate
Any mandatory non-governmental fees (e.g. resort fees, cleaning fees, service charges)
Government taxes (e.g. occupancy tax, city tax, VAT)
If your booking engine bundles fees silently into the base rate — without itemising them — Google receives $0 for fees. It may then override your setup and show your full all-in total as the "nightly price", making your hotel appear more expensive than OTAs that do itemise fees correctly.
Europe, Asia and all other regions
Outside the US and Canada, Google more prominently displays the total price, which includes the base rate, taxes, and all mandatory fees combined. Google reserves the right to amend how prices are shown in any market to comply with local law.
For European hotels in particular, Value Added Tax (VAT), city tax, and tourism levies must all be represented in the total figure shown to the guest. Google will validate your booking engine against the price it received in your transaction feed — if the totals don't match, your Price Accuracy Score is affected.
Special case — Israel: Users searching from outside Israel for hotels in Israel see prices exclusive of taxes and fees. Users in Israel searching for hotels in Israel see fully inclusive prices.
All regions — mandatory inclusions
Regardless of where your hotel or your guests are located, the price you send to Google must include:
Occupancy tax, county tax, city tax, Value Added Tax, tourism tax
Resort fees, registration fees, service fees, transfer fees, cleaning fees
Any other charge that is mandatory and unavoidable to complete the booking
Optional extras (parking, breakfast, spa access) must not be included in the tax and fee total.
How to check if your direct rate is showing correctly
The verification process differs depending on your hotel's region, because Google displays prices differently for US/Canada properties versus all other markets. Follow the relevant set of steps below.
USA and Canada properties
What to expect: Google shows the base room rate plus mandatory non-governmental fees. Taxes are not included in the metasearch price.
Open Google Hotels or Google Search and search for your hotel. If you are checking from outside the US, use a VPN set to a US location, or change the currency in Google Hotels to USD.
Note the price shown next to your direct booking channel in the metasearch results — this is the figure you'll verify against.
Click through one of the free booking options to open your hotel's booking engine. Select the same room type and dates, choose the cheapest available rate, and continue to the checkout page.
On the checkout page, review the full price breakdown. You should see the base room rate and any mandatory fees listed as separate line items, with taxes shown additionally on top.
Confirm the metasearch price is correct by checking that it equals: base room rate + mandatory fees. Taxes should not be included in this figure.
🧐 Example: A hotel in the US, if metasearch shows $157, your checkout should show a base room rate of $151.2 and a fee of $5.41 ($151.2 + $5.41 = $157). The checkout total will be higher once taxes are added — this is expected and correct.
Europe, Asia, and all other regions
What to expect: Google shows the total price inclusive of all taxes and fees. The metasearch figure should match your booking engine checkout total exactly.
Open Google Hotels or Google Search and search for your hotel. Select a few test dates to check. If you are verifying from a different market, use a VPN set to the hotel's country to see the correct regional price format or change the currency in Google Hotels to the local currency. For example, if your hotel is in Thailand, switch to Thai Baht before noting the metasearch price.
Note the price shown next to your direct booking channel in the metasearch results. This figure should be the all-in total including taxes and fees.
Click through one of the free booking options to open your hotel's booking engine. Select the same room type and dates, choose the cheapest available rate, and continue to the checkout page.
On the checkout page, review the full price breakdown: base rate, taxes, and fees should all be listed separately. Check that the checkout total matches the metasearch total.
🧐 Example: If Google Hotels shows a total of THB4.002 for a hotel in Thailand, your booking engine checkout should show the base room rate, mandatory fees and taxes. In this case the checkout page is showing: room rate = THB3.400 + taxes & fees = THB601; Total price = THB4.002.
If your checkout total shows THB4.002 but the metasearch price shows less, your booking engine is likely sending the base rate plus taxes only — the mandatory fees are not being included in the figure sent to Google.
If something doesn't match
Regardless of region, if your metasearch price and booking engine total are misaligned, the fix sits in your booking engine configuration — Triptease cannot adjust how your booking engine itemises taxes and fees on your behalf.
Contact your booking engine provider to ensure all mandatory charges are listed as separate line items on the checkout page, then notify your Triptease Customer Success Manager (CSM) so the team can verify the correction is reflected in your Google price feed.
Common Questions
Q: My total price is the same as the OTA — why does my direct rate still look more expensive on Google?
This usually happens when your booking engine doesn't itemise fees separately. Google expects to see a base rate plus individually listed fees. If fees are bundled silently into the base rate, Google may display your all-in total as the nightly price, while the OTA's clearly-separated fee structure makes their nightly rate appear lower.
Q: Does this apply to all regions, or only the US?
The requirement to itemise taxes and fees applies globally — Google needs a full breakdown regardless of where your hotel is located. The difference is how Google then displays the price to the guest: in the US and Canada, the base rate is more prominent; in Europe, Asia, and other markets, the all-in total is shown more prominently.
Q: What taxes and fees do I need to include?
You must include all mandatory, unavoidable charges: occupancy tax, city tax, VAT, tourism tax, resort fees, registration fees, service fees, transfer fees, and cleaning fees. Optional charges such as breakfast or parking must not be included in the tax and fee total.
Q: Can Triptease fix the price breakdown for me?
No — the breakdown is controlled by your booking engine configuration, which sits outside Triptease's platform. Triptease can help you identify the discrepancy and verify the fix once it's been made, but the update must be made by you or your booking engine provider.
Q: What happens if my prices stay misaligned?
Google will consider any price that doesn't include all mandatory taxes and fees to be inaccurate. This lowers your Price Accuracy Score, which can increase your effective cost-per-click on Google Hotel Ads or, in severe cases, result in your direct listing being suppressed from auctions entirely.
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