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Google Vacation Rentals

Get listed on Google Travel for free direct booking leads

Andrew Schorr avatar
Written by Andrew Schorr
Updated this week

Hospitable's integration with Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) bring zero cost direct booking leads from Google Travel straight to your Direct site. It's available to all Direct Basic and Direct Premium hosts with qualifying properties. Google accounts for 5-10% of all Direct bookings at Hospitable, but of course, individual results will vary.

Scoping your property sites to Google

All Direct Basic and Direct Premium customers are now able to scope their properties to be listed with Google Vacation Rentals. Once you've setup Direct:

  1. Go to the Direct Channels page

  2. Check some or all of your properties to scope them to Google

  3. If you have multiple sites, select the site URL you would like to use for each property

    1. If you are not using a Hospitable site, you'll need to input your URLs as a self-hosted site

  4. Save your changes

Requirements to list on Google

  • A direct booking site, either:

  • Entire properties only; no private rooms, no hotels, no grouped properties

  • A Direct payout method

  • A full address

  • A summary of the property

  • At least one amenity

  • Minimum 8 high-resolution photos (recommended 20+)

    • Must include at least one photo of living room, common area, and bathroom

    • Recommended resolution: 1920 x 1080 px

    • Maximum height and width: 4000 px

    • Maximum size: 10 MB

    • File format: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP

    • Orientation: Landscape

    • No watermark or branding should be in the images

    • The image order is auto-generated and cannot be changed

Note that the maximum length of stay on Google is 30 days, so if your minimum stay is greater than 30 days, those dates will appear as unavailable on Google.

Publishing Process

The path to publishing a GVR listing includes several steps:

  • Ensure all required details, including property photos and descriptions, are complete before submitting.

  • Any updates to a live listing (e.g., copy or availability changes) will restart Google's review process, temporarily removing the property from search results. This process can take another two weeks to complete.

When you save new properties to GVR, we will begin to sync your sites with Google so they can be reviewed according to their listing requirements. It can take up to 30 days before new properties appear on Google. Each edit or modification will prompt a new review process, so minimizing changes after submission can help reduce delays.

Overview of GVR Listing Statuses

  • Pending: This indicates that all required information has been forwarded to Google. It usually takes two weeks for the listing to appear on GVR, although it may take up to four weeks in some cases. Your property will display a Pending badge while Google is reviewing it.

  • Live: Once your property is live on Google, you will see a green View on Google button. Click on the button to open the property's GVR landing page.

  • Issues: If there are any problems, we will display a yellow Issues badge. Hover on the badge to see the feedback from Google.

Delay in being Live on Google

  1. Google Review Timeline:

    • After submission, it typically takes Google up to 30 days to review your listing. If edits or updates are made, the timeline is reset, beginning a new review cycle from the date of the most recent change.

  2. Incomplete Property Details or Non-Compliance:

    • Ensure completion of all required details, such as the full address, property summary, amenities, and high-quality photos. Non-compliance may result in prolonged pending status.

  3. Conflicting Previous Listings:

    • Conflicts may arise if the property is also listed on other platforms, e.g., as a hotel. Resolving these conflicts might be necessary for approval.

Removing properties from Google

To remove your listing from Google Vacation Rentals, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Direct > Channels on Hospitable.

  2. Unselect the properties you want to remove.

  3. Hit "Save Changes."

Property photos/images on Google

Hospitable does not have the capability or control to manually sort or rearrange the order of images on Google Vacation Rentals (GVR).

The sequence of photos is automatically generated by Google's system and is a standard protocol for all listings on GVR.

Reviews on Google

We pull Airbnb and Direct booking's aggregate rating. We currently do not show any review content.

Monitoring your performance

Once your properties are live on Google, you'll start seeing how your properties are performing directly on the GVR tab.

  • Impressions: the number of times your property page is viewed on Google Travel

  • Click-through rate: the number of times a user clicks through from your Google Travel property page to your Direct property page

  • Bookings: the number of times that the guest, after being redirected to your Direct property page, completes the booking request and you confirm the reservation


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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Updated Listings Disappearing From GVR

If your listing is temporarily unavailable on GVR after you’ve made updates:

  • Understand that this is a regular part of the review process.

  • Allow at least two weeks after the last update for the listing to reappear.

Listings Not Becoming Live

If a listing does not become live after the 30 days review period, you can:

  • Double-check that all essential details (e.g., photos and descriptions) are correctly completed.

  • Note that any edits made will restart the publishing process, potentially resetting the scoping timeline.

Duplicate Listing On GVR

If the listing you are trying to list on GVR is already listed there through a different platform, such as VRBO, you need to make sure to remove the VRBO listing first.

GVR tends to display only one of these listings.

The solution to this is to request the other platform (e.g., VRBO) to remove its GVR listing.

Following this, you can reinitiate your Direct GVR listing by unscoping and then rescoping it under 'Direct > Channels'. Alternatively, renaming the public name of your Direct listing might help, although this could lead to display issues if the other platform's listing remains active, as both would appear in the same map location.

Verifying Listing Availability and Visibility

To confirm that your property is active and visible to guests on GVR:

  1. Check your Hospitable.com dashboard for a green "View on Google" button next to your property listing.

  2. Ensure that the necessary setup, including property photos and scoped information, has been completed.

  3. If you suspect issues with a specific property, verify its status through manual searches on GVR.

Upcoming improvements

We have several improvements coming next to GVR:

  • ✅ Done: We now sync your aggregate review score from available OTA channels

  • ✅ Done: We now display your GVR listing status and URL in Hospitable

  • ✅ Done: We now support non-Hospitable sites

  • ✅ Done: GVR listing performance data is now visible on the Direct Channel tab

  • ✅ Done: Syncing your Direct cancellation policy

  • 🚧 Expanded amenity coverage

  • Custom branding for GVR listings

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