Pay-per-click search engine advertising has been hyped as the answer to the industry’s distribution prayers but does it actually work?
According to the search engines, if agents get their strategy right they can sit back and watch the customers roll in.
The theory is supported by exclusive research which highlights the growing importance of search engines in consumers’ holiday buying habits.
A poll of more than 1,800 consumers across Europe and the UK, by leading search engine Google, revealed nine out of 10 people use a search engine when researching or buying travel.
The results show why high-street agents are moving online, despite the difficulty in competing against major brands with massive marketing budgets and suppliers offering direct online discounts.
To gauge the potential impact of paid search, Travel Weekly has teamed up with Google to road- test pay-per-click advertising by giving five readers a free £200 campaign each.
Google head of travel Dan Robb and his team will work with the winners to tailor campaigns to suit their business. Travel Weekly will chart the success of the campaigns to see if the pay-per-click road is paved with gold or a dangerous adventure where a wrong turn can see your funds drain away. Almost two-thirds of respondents to Google’s research said more than half of their travel-related research involves a search engine.
Half of Google’s 10 most-searched terms are brand names but Robb said small independent companies can compete against big brands with the right search engine optimisation strategy.
To win a £200 Google pay-per-click advertising campaign answer this question.
What do the letters SEO stand for?
a) Search engine outsourcing
b) Search engine offers
c) Search engine optimisation
E-mail your answer headlined ‘Google competition’ to travel.weekly@rbi.co.uk by August 19.
The correct entries will go into a prize draw with five winners selected at random. By entering, you agree to follow-up coverage in Travel Weekly. Full terms and conditions are available on request.