The surprising truths of metasearch

Diving into the data that powers the industry’s fastest-growing acquisition channel.

EXTENDED EDITION

T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

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TRIPTEASE

Metasearch is the fastest-growing

acquisitions channel in the world -

and it’s more accessible than ever

to hotels seeking to increase the

volume of high-converting traffic

on their site. But in order to really

compete on meta, it’s not enough

to just be on the platform. Superior

performance requires superior

decision-making.

However, there is no such thing as

a one-size-fits-all meta strategy.

Hundreds of factors go into making

the perfect bid for the perfect guest.

As well as being able to target

your ideal guests, you also need to

be adapting to macro behavioral

trends as they emerge. You need

Foreword

Device type & ad position

Day of the week & month

Region: conversion rate & click-through rate

Region: ROAS & cost per click

Triptease Meta

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Click Through Rate9

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ForewordContentsto know when exactly guests are

searching, clicking and booking at

your hotel, and how that changes

based on regional events and

economic trends.

Over the course of a three-part

article series, Triptease analyzed

two data sets based on millions

of metasearch auctions to identify

how different variables affect

performance on meta. In this

paper, we’ve rounded up the most

illuminating insights alongside

advice for how to put them to use.

Hotels know their guests better

than anyone. It’s time to leverage

your valuable data to make smarter

metasearch bidding decisions.

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T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

Isolating the impact of ad position

on return on ad spend (ROAS)

provides an unexpected perspective

on bidding best practice. Received

wisdom may dictate that top

position is best, but on desktop,

Device type & ad position

return is over twice as high on the

fourth-position placement.

However, that high return comes

at the cost of volume. Top position

brings with it the greatest number

of clicks and conversions, and

therefore the highest revenue.

Optimizing for either volume or

ROAS alone risks missing out on the

full picture.

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While the trend is consistent across

desktop, tablet and mobile, actual

ROAS varies substantially across

device type. While the return on

spend is similar for both desktop

and tablet searchers, the return on

mobile is up to 30% lower.

Across every device, conversion

rates are higher for selected (rather

than default) dates, as these users

typically have a higher booking

intent. However, perhaps as these

auctions are more competitive, they

deliver a lower return than bids on

default dates (for desktop and

tablet searches).

While selected dates do have a

higher return on mobile, ROAS is

still significantly lower than on

other devices.

Data

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TRIPTEASE

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T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

Across our data set, guests were

most likely to make a booking

at the start of the working week,

with Monday receiving the highest

impression share and highest

Day of the week & month

conversion rate of any day.

Saturday was the least active day

for bookers, receiving around 20%

fewer impressions and only 2.8% of

them leading to a conversion.

Despite this, Tuesday actually has

the lowest ROAS across the week at

9.55 - although Saturday is not far

ahead with a return of only $9.69.

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From this, we can see that people

are searching significantly more

at the start of the year, with March

receiving twice as many impressions

as October, November or December.

While June and July both have a

relatively small share of impressions,

they also have by far the highest

conversion rates. The early summer

months provide the lowest return

though. The best return can be

had on searches in November,

with a ROAS of 10.5.

Data

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T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

While this is a global dataset

collected from hundreds of hotels -

and therefore will vary significantly

from an individual hotel’s audience

data - it gives a good indication of

the regions where consumers rely

more heavily on metasearch.

We can see that searchers from the

Americas have the highest click-

through and conversion rates, with

Region: conversion rate & click through rate

4.8% and 6.1% respectively. While

Oceania’s click-through rate is only

around 3%, their conversion rate is

by far the highest: 7.1%. Is this was

an individual hotel’s data, we might

infer that the hotel’s Australian

audience has a far greater intent

to book when they click on a

metasearch ad - or maybe that they

are more likely to be decisive upon

reaching the direct site.

As the only region in which click-

through rate is higher than conversion

rate, it’s possible that guests in

Asia were using the platform more

as a research tool than a booking

mechanism over this period and for

these hotels. However, ads were seen

at a much greater scale - searchers in

Asia counted for over double those in

Oceania.

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T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

To easily compare ROAS across

regions, we’ve given each country

a ROAS Index Score. This shows

the relative return on ad spend

compared to the best performing

region. Our results show that, over

the course of this short-term data

study, there is a positive correlation

between ROAS and cost per click.

The Americas have the highest

ROAS, even when the average cost

per click is double the amount of

every other individual region at

$3.10. Despite having the lowest

conversion rate and click through

Region: ROAS & cost per click

rate, Africa’s ROAS is greater than

that of both Asia and Oceania, and

is only 2% smaller than the return

for Europe. However, this does not

account for volume of bookings;

spending more on each click can

still provide a greater return if those

clicks are resulting in a significantly

higher number of conversions.

It’s interesting to note that, while

Oceania had the highest conversion

rate in the previous graph, it also

has the lowest ROAS out of all of

the analyzed regions - with a ROAS

Index Score of only 0.76. Oceania

has the second-highest cost per click

at $2.71 - only $0.39 off that of the

Americas - and is the only region not

to follow the overarching trend. There

are many factors that may influence

this, and this is a clear example of

how metasearch data should never

be taken out of context and viewed

in isolation. Other variables such

as volume and value of individual

bookings may play a crucial role; each

bid multiplier and success metric

must be viewed as part of the greater

metasearch puzzle.

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T H E S U R P R I S I N G T R U T H S O F M E TA S E A R C H

If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s

that metasearch auctions are a

complicated business. And let’s

face it - even the most data-savvy

hoteliers have better things to do

than keep constant watch on their

ROAS. But you need to be data-

driven in order to succeed. OTAs

have got where they are today by

ruthlessly iterating and optimizing

their spend to ensure success on

metasearch channels.

Pre-set bids don’t work. They waste

money and miss opportunities to

attract guests who convert. That’s

why Triptease Meta uses live data

and smart bidding to supercharge

metasearch.

Our unique algorithms take into

account the Guest Value Index and

Trip Value Index of every search.

Triptease MetaBased on the searcher’s potential

value to your hotel, behavioral data

associated with their demographic,

the status of your price parity and

what we’ve learned from millions

of searches about optimizing

performance, we calculate the

perfect bid for every guest. We also

know when not to bid when you’re

being undercut by an OTA, so your

hotel is never paying to advertise

that you don’t have the best rate.

The complexity of the data

displayed in this report might be

intimidating enough for hoteliers

already well-versed in metasearch,

let alone those just starting out.

Triptease Meta makes simple that

complexity. If you’re interested in

using Triptease Meta as part of

your acquisition strategy, get in

touch with our team today.

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Designed by Alisa VoitikaBrand & Content Manager

Rob FunnellContent & Product Marketing Executive

Why do we care?

Contact us:

USA: +1 888 643 4732

EMEA: +44 (0) 203 950 7688

APAC: +65 6932 2577

www.triptease.com

OTAs are building an enormous

data advantage over hotels. When it

comes to acquiring and converting

your guests, they now know them

better than you do.

Triptease is here to change that.

We make your data work harder to

increase revenue direct.

Our Triptease Platform identifies

your most valuable guests then

works across the entire customer

journey - from acquisition to

conversion - to make sure they

book directly at your hotel.

We support you the whole way with

coaching, content and community.

Take back control of your

distribution and become an expert

at driving direct - intelligently.

Author:

TRIPTEASE

$75k

16x

CASE STUDY

Hospitality management group Number of rooms: 1,557 Location: Philippines

Revenue generated in one month from Triptease Meta.

ROAS in one month with the full Triptease Platform.