Paid and free channels
Hotel Metasearch: What Google, Tripadvisor, trivago and KAYAK Cost a Hotel
Metasearch sites charge hotels per click or as a percentage of each booking they send. Google Hotel Ads charges per click, Tripadvisor's hotel auction is mostly paid per click, and trivago and KAYAK offer both models. None publishes a price list, so compare them by what each booking ends up costing you.
Metasearch sites compare prices from booking sites and hotels on one page, then send the traveler to the chosen site to book. For an independent hotel, they are a way to put your own rate next to Expedia's and Booking.com's. This guide covers how each major one charges, using the companies' own pages and annual reports, read on October 5, 2026.
What is hotel metasearch?
A price comparison search for hotels. KAYAK describes itself as a travel search engine, not a travel agency: it searches hundreds of travel sites at once, and when the traveler is ready to book, they click through to the partner's site, where the payment and the booking happen (KAYAK's help page). trivago works the same way: a traveler who clicks your advertised rate is sent to your website to complete the booking (trivago's Get listed page). So does Google's hotel prices panel. The site you advertise on never takes the booking itself, which is why it can charge you per click.
How do metasearch sites charge hotels?
| Site | How hotels pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Google Hotel Ads | Per click, either a fixed bid or a percentage of the nightly price. Commission-based bidding is being retired. Free booking links cost nothing per click. | Google Ads Help |
| Tripadvisor | Mostly per click, through an auction or a set contract rate. It also sells subscription advertising to hotels and B&Bs. | Tripadvisor 2025 annual report |
| trivago | Per click (CPC), or a pre-defined percentage of each booking (CPA). A basic profile in trivago Business Studio is free. | trivago |
| KAYAK | Per click or per booking, plus clearly labeled sponsored listings. | KAYAK Help |
None of the four publishes a price list for hotels. Read on October 5, 2026.
- Google. Google's bidding overview for hotel ads lists Manual CPC, CPC%, Enhanced CPC and Target ROAS for hotel campaigns, and says commission-based bid strategies are being sunset. Google also says there is no cost for clicks on free booking links and that bids do not affect their ranking (Google's free booking links page). Our guide to Google Hotel Ads for small hotels works out what a booking costs at different conversion rates.
- Tripadvisor. Its 2025 annual report says its largest source of hotel revenue is click-based advertising, which it calls hotel metasearch or hotel auction. It is priced per click, with partners paying for the number of travelers who click multiplied by the cost per click, and those partners are mainly booking sites and hotels.
- trivago. Its 2025 annual report says a cost-per-click bid is the most an advertiser will pay for a click, and can be changed as often as twice a day by property and market. Under the cost-per-acquisition model, the advertiser pays a percentage of the booking amount that results from a referral. Higher bids, or their equivalent under the percentage model, generally win better placement.
- KAYAK. KAYAK's help page says it earns money from travel partners and advertisers, with commission models that include per click or per booking.
Who are you bidding against on metasearch?
Mostly the booking sites that also sell your rooms. trivago's 2025 annual report says Booking Holdings and its affiliates made up 39% of its total revenue that year, and Expedia Group 33%. Tripadvisor's says Booking and Expedia together made up about 21% of its 2025 revenue, nearly all of it in the segment that includes hotel metasearch. KAYAK is one of Booking Holdings' own brands, and Booking Holdings lists referrals from meta-search websites among the main costs of its performance marketing (Booking Holdings' 2025 annual report).
That is also the opening. At the same price, a traveler comparing your rate with a booking site's can just as easily click yours, and the booking that follows costs you no commission.
Is cost per click or a percentage per booking cheaper for a hotel?
Turn both into a cost per booking. Per click, that is your cost per click multiplied by the clicks it takes to win one booking. Per booking, it is the percentage multiplied by the booking's value. An illustrative 3-night stay worth $480, at $2.00 a click, against an illustrative 15% per booking:
| Clicks per booking | Per click at $2.00 | Share of $480 | Per booking at 15% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $20.00 | 4.2% | $72.00 |
| 20 | $40.00 | 8.3% | $72.00 |
| 40 | $80.00 | 16.7% | $72.00 |
Illustrative. Excludes taxes and fees. Real click prices and percentages are set by each site's auction or your agreement.
Paying per click is cheaper when your booking page turns visitors into bookings well. Paying per booking is safer while you do not yet know that rate, because you pay only when a booking happens. Before you choose, ask each site two questions: is a cancelled booking still charged, and is the percentage charged on a price that includes taxes and fees?
Either way, compare the result with what booking sites charge, usually 20% to 30% of a booking once add-ons are counted (see the real cost of an OTA booking). To see what that gap is worth across a year, try our savings calculator.
How does an independent hotel get on metasearch?
- Start with Google's free booking links. Your rates reach Google through a connectivity partner, such as your booking engine or channel manager, and clicks cost nothing (see Google's free booking links).
- Register on trivago Business Studio. trivago says registering is free and lets you manage how your hotel appears. It also offers Rate Connect, to advertise your website's rates on trivago, and Direct Connect, to publish your own website's rates there directly.
- Ask your booking engine or channel manager which metasearch sites it connects to. Tripadvisor and KAYAK do not publish a sign-up route for hotels on the pages we read.
- Track every booking to its source before you add budget. Our guide to tracking which ad brought a booking explains how.
MarginStay runs Google Hotel Ads for independent hotels, so we have a stake in this topic. Facts come from Google Ads Help and Hotel Center Help, trivago's own pages and 2025 annual report on Form 20-F, Tripadvisor's and Booking Holdings' 2025 annual reports on Form 10-K, and KAYAK Help, all read on October 5, 2026. The examples are illustrative.
Metasearch costs: quick answers
What is hotel metasearch?
A price comparison search for hotels, such as Google's hotel prices, Tripadvisor, trivago and KAYAK. It shows rates from booking sites and hotels side by side and sends the traveler to the chosen site to book. Hotels and booking sites pay to appear, usually per click, sometimes as a percentage of each booking.
How much does trivago charge hotels?
trivago does not publish a price list. Its 2025 annual report describes two models: a cost-per-click bid, the most an advertiser will pay for a click, and a cost-per-acquisition model, where the advertiser pays a percentage of each booking that results. Registering a basic profile on trivago Business Studio is free.
Is Google Hotel Ads a metasearch?
Yes. Google's hotel prices panel compares rates from booking sites and hotels and sends the traveler to the chosen site. Hotel Ads are paid per click, with a fixed bid or a percentage of the nightly price. Google says its commission-based bid strategies are being sunset. Free booking links appear in the same panel at no cost per click.
Is metasearch cheaper than Booking.com for a hotel?
It can be, but it depends on how many clicks turn into bookings. At $2.00 a click, a $480 stay costs $20 if 10 clicks bring one booking, and $80 if it takes 40. A booking site usually costs 20% to 30% of a booking once add-ons are counted. Track cost per booking to know.
Put your own rate next to the booking sites
Talk to us about which metasearch sites are worth paying for at your hotel, or see first what your booking-site bookings cost you.
Sources
- Google Ads Help: Bidding overview for hotel ads
- Google Hotel Center Help: About hotel free booking links
- Tripadvisor: Annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 (SEC)
- trivago N.V.: Annual report on Form 20-F for 2025 (SEC)
- trivago: Get listed
- KAYAK Help: About the company
- Booking Holdings: Annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 (SEC)