Booking sites typically take around 15% of each booking from UK hotels and holiday lets, and more if you join their visibility programmes. Paid ads can win some of those guests back directly, but only when a booking from ads costs less than the commission. The simple test: the most you can pay per click is the commission on an average booking multiplied by your website’s booking conversion rate. The biggest wins usually come from protecting your own brand name, targeting specific trip searches, and bringing back people who have already looked at your site.
This guide covers what booking sites really cost, when ads beat commission, the five ways paid media wins direct bookings, and the pricing rules your ads must follow.
What booking sites really cost
Booking.com doesn’t publish one UK rate, and your contract decides what you pay. Published guides put the standard commission for UK properties at about 15% of the booking value, with a wider range of roughly 10 to 25% depending on property type, location and contract. Programmes that boost your visibility, such as Genius discounts and Preferred Partner status, add to the effective cost.
On a £300 stay at 15%, that’s £45 per booking. Over a year of bookings that adds up quickly, and the booking site, not you, owns the guest’s details.
None of this means booking sites are bad. They bring guests you’d never reach yourself. The aim is a better mix: fewer commission-paying bookings from guests who were already looking for you.
When a direct booking from ads beats commission
Work out the most you can pay per click and still beat commission:
Maximum cost per click = commission per booking × website booking conversion rate
An illustrative example (not a client result): if the commission on an average booking is £45 and 2% of visitors to your website book, any click under £0.90 makes a direct booking cheaper than paying commission. Brand searches for your own property often convert far better than that, so they usually clear the bar easily. Generic searches such as “hotel Cornwall” usually don’t.
Our free direct booking calculator runs this sum with your own numbers. Remember too that a direct guest gives you their details, so a second stay costs you nothing in commission.
Five ways paid ads win direct bookings
1. Protect your own name
Booking sites and other advertisers often bid on hotel and holiday-let names. Google’s trademark policy doesn’t restrict anyone from using trademarks as keywords, and resellers that genuinely sell your rooms can usually mention your name in their ads too. So the most reliable defence is your own brand campaign: an ad for your official site, with direct-booking reasons that are true, such as the best available rate, free breakfast or flexible cancellation, and sitelinks to rooms and offers. Brand clicks are usually cheap and convert well. Test what happens when you pause them, so you only pay for bookings you wouldn’t have won anyway.
From experience
Most hotels and holiday lets I look at don't protect their own name on Google. Booking sites end up taking the top spot when people search for the property directly, so the hotel pays commission on guests who were already looking for them. A simple brand campaign is usually the cheapest fix there is.
2. Target specific trip searches
Broad searches such as “hotels in Bath” are expensive and dominated by booking sites. Specific searches convert better and cost less: “dog friendly cottage Lake District”, “boutique hotel with spa Cotswolds” or “wedding venue with rooms Devon”. Build campaigns around what makes you different, target people searching for your area wherever they live, and plan budgets around booking peaks such as January.
3. Inspire and remind on Meta and Instagram
Most trips start before anyone searches. Instagram and Facebook ads with strong photos and video put your property in front of people planning a break, and remarketing brings back people who looked at your rooms but didn’t book. Groups with several properties can use catalogue ads that show the right property and price automatically.
4. Bring past guests back
Past guests are your cheapest bookings. With their consent, you can use your guest list to reach them on Google and Meta with a reason to return, and exclude people who’ve just booked so you don’t pay to advertise to them.
5. Make the website convert
Ads can only send people. Your website decides whether they book:
- a fast booking engine that works well on a phone;
- prices that match or beat the booking sites, with the total price shown up front;
- clear reasons to book direct, and only ones that are true;
- booking revenue tracked from the ad to the confirmed booking, including across your booking engine.
Free booking links: worth switching on
Google also shows free booking links in its hotel search results. They aren’t ads: there’s no fee, clicks are free, and nobody can pay to rank higher. Many booking engines and channel managers can connect your property for you, so ask your provider. They’re separate from Google’s paid Hotel Ads and worth having either way.
The pricing rules your ads must follow
From April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act banned drip pricing in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance says mandatory charges must be included in the headline price you advertise, and it names fees such as booking fees, resort fees and mandatory cleaning fees. If a cleaning fee is unavoidable, it belongs in the price in your ad, not added at checkout. The CMA can fine businesses up to 10% of global turnover, and it has already written to travel and hotel businesses about pricing.
The ASA’s CAP Code also applies: “from” prices must be genuinely available, and claims such as “best price guaranteed” or “cheapest when you book direct” must be true and backed up. If you sell package holidays, ATOL claims must be accurate too.
Measure on booking revenue
Judge paid media on direct booking revenue and cost per booking, compared with the commission you’d have paid. Track bookings through your booking engine, count cancellations, and look at the total: are direct bookings rising as a share of all bookings, and is your overall commission bill falling?
What Brightpace charges
Our fee is a monthly fee agreed up front, scaled to your ad spend and scope, no setup fee and a 30-day rolling contract, with ad spend paid directly to the platforms. See how we work with hotels and travel brands.
FAQs
Is Google Ads cheaper than Booking.com commission?
For searches of your own name, usually yes, because those clicks are cheap and convert well. For broad searches such as “hotels in London”, often not. Work out your maximum cost per click from your commission and conversion rate, and only pay more where repeat stays justify it.
Should hotels bid on their own brand name?
Usually yes. Booking sites and others can bid on your name, and a brand campaign keeps your official site at the top. Test it by pausing it in a controlled way, so you know how many bookings it really adds.
Can I stop booking sites bidding on my hotel name?
Not through Google. Its trademark policy doesn’t restrict trademarks as keywords, and resellers selling your rooms can usually mention your name. Check your contracts with booking sites, and run your own brand campaign.
How much should a hotel spend on paid ads?
Start from the bookings you want and what you can pay per booking. A brand campaign may need very little, while a full programme across search and Meta usually starts from about £2,000 a month in ad spend, more in peak season.
Do I need Google Hotel Ads?
Not to start. Free booking links cost nothing and many booking engines can connect them. Paid Hotel Ads are a separate product, and search and social campaigns are where most smaller properties start.
In short
Booking sites typically take around 15% of each booking. Paid ads win direct bookings when the cost per click is below your commission multiplied by your conversion rate, which is usually true for your own brand searches and specific trip searches. Protect your name, target what makes you different, bring back past visitors and guests, show the full price up front, and judge it all on direct booking revenue.
Sources
The rules, platform documentation and published estimates this guide is checked against. Commission figures are third-party estimates, and your contract decides your rate. Last checked October 2026.
- Price transparency (CMA209), Competition and Markets Authority
- Providing clear and accurate information about prices: summary, Competition and Markets Authority
- Trademarks, Google Advertising Policies Help
- About hotel free booking links, Google Hotel Center Help
- Booking.com commission breakdown 2026, Holidayfox
- What commission rates does Booking.com charge hotels?, Preno
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