From September 30, 2026, Google will stop sourcing hotel rates for advertisers using its third-party rates feature.
Hotels relying on this Google-sourced hotel feed connection, including some using Performance Max for Travel Goals (PMax), will need to provide Google with their rates through Hotel Center or an integration partner to keep appearing in Google Hotel Ads.
In practical terms, some hotels need to check how their rates are currently reaching Google. If your Google metasearch is managed in-house or by an agency, now is the time to confirm whether your setup is affected so your direct rates keep appearing after September 30.
This is a Google-specific change. Other metasearch channels such as Bing, Tripadvisor and Trivago are not part of this update.
Google currently sources hotel rates on behalf of some advertisers. Google calls these Google-sourced third-party rates, and they can be used across Hotel Ads and PMax.
For PMax specifically, if a campaign is set up without Hotel Center, Google currently sources the hotel rates used for its Hotel Ads.
Hotel Center is Google’s platform for managing the hotel rates, availability and booking links used in Hotel Ads.
That Google-sourced connection is going away.
Google says affected advertisers will need to “set up a direct price feed” through an integration partner or Hotel Center, link it to Google Ads and recreate affected campaigns.
See how the change affects the main Google hotel products and placements below.
For hotels, the biggest risk is losing direct visibility in Google’s hotel search experience while OTA rates remain present.
The easiest way to check is to find out how your hotel rates are currently being supplied to Google.
If your rates already come through Hotel Center or an integration partner, check with your provider whether your current setup meets Google’s requirements.
If Google is currently sourcing those rates for you, your setup will need to change.
This is especially worth checking if your metasearch is managed by an agency. You may know they manage your campaigns without knowing how the live rates and availability behind those campaigns actually reach Google.
So ask:
“How are our hotel rates being supplied to Google?”
PMax can be set up with or without Hotel Center.
If your agency is using PMax without Hotel Center, the Hotel Ads part of that campaign is one of the setups affected by this change. Google confirms that PMax campaigns created without Hotel Center currently use Google-sourced third-party rates.
PMax itself will continue across channels such as Search, Display and YouTube. But the Hotel Ads part will no longer be supported through Google-sourced third-party rates.
So if your agency says they run your metasearch through PMax, ask one more question:
“Is our Google Ads account linked to Hotel Center?”
If your Hotel Ads rely on Google-sourced third-party rates and you do not change your setup, the impact is pretty straightforward:
That last point matters. Managing metasearch involves more than adjusting bids. Someone needs to keep rates and availability flowing correctly, manage campaigns, monitor performance and respond when something goes wrong.
For already stretched hotel teams, that can mean a significant amount of extra operational work.
Start by checking how your rates reach Google today.
If an agency or metasearch provider manages your setup, ask them to confirm three things:
If your setup is affected, Google says you will need a direct price feed, linked to Google Ads, and affected campaigns will need to be recreated.
Do not leave that conversation until September. Understanding your current setup now gives you time to make any required changes without risking disruption to an important direct booking channel.
If your agency can no longer support your existing setup, bringing metasearch management in-house is not your only option.
Triptease Metasearch is built specifically for hotels and is 100% automated. We connect to your existing booking engine and price feed, manage campaigns across Google Hotel Ads and other major metasearch channels and bring performance into one platform.
Our bidding also uses live rate, price parity and guest-intent data to decide where your budget has the best chance of driving a direct booking. That means less manual campaign management for your team and more focus on winning high-intent guests from OTAs.
If you are unsure how Google’s September 30 change affects your current setup, speak to our team. We can help you understand what you have in place today and what needs to change.