What free booking links are
When a traveller opens a hotel, guest house or B&B on Google Search or Google Maps, Google shows a list of places to book it, with a price from each: Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, MakeMyTrip and so on. Free booking links are the entries in that list that cost nothing. Your own website can be one of them, labelled as the official site.
For a small property this matters because the guest has already found you. Without your own price there, they book through a site that takes 15 to 25%. With it, they can book with you directly.
What you need
- A Google Business Profile, verified, with the right category. Hotels, guest houses, B&Bs and farmstays with a host on site qualify. A whole house or villa rented with no host present belongs to Google's vacation rental listings instead.
- A booking page with live prices, where the price for any dates matches what Google shows. Google checks this and stops showing prices that don't match.
- A connection that sends Google your prices and availability every day, for every room and number of guests. Google takes these only from approved partners, so small properties use booking software that is connected to Google.
- Matching details everywhere: the same property name, address, phone and map pin on your Business Profile and your booking page.
Step by step
- Check your Business Profile. Search for your property on Google Maps. Correct the name, address, phone and category, and move the map pin onto your gate if it's off.
- Set up a booking page that reads from your real calendar, so it never offers a night that's taken. In InnRow, it's Settings → Your booking page.
- Enter the same address and pin on your booking page as on your Business Profile, including the PIN or postal code.
- Turn on prices for Google in your booking software. In InnRow: Your price on Google → Show my prices on Google. How it works in InnRow.
- Answer booking requests quickly. Google expects bookings from its links confirmed within 24 hours.
Common reasons a price doesn't show
- The Business Profile doesn't match the booking page (different phone, a shortened name, or the pin in the wrong place).
- The prices don't match. Tax is the usual culprit: show the same total, tax included, on both.
- The category is wrong, for example a holiday home without an on-site host listed as a hotel.
- No free nights, or no price for the dates the traveller searched.
Sources
Questions people ask
Are Google's free booking links really free?
Yes. Google charges nothing for free booking links. Paid hotel ads are a separate product.
Can a homestay appear in Google Hotels?
Yes, when it's a guest house, B&B or farmstay with the owner or a manager on site and a matching Google Business Profile. Whole homes rented with no host present belong to Google's vacation rental listings.
Why does Booking.com show on my Google listing but not my own website?
Booking.com sends Google its prices through an approved connection. Your own site shows only when your booking software sends your prices the same way.
Do I need my own website?
No. A booking page from your booking software works, as long as its prices and availability are live and match what Google shows.