Google Maps is one of the first points of call for many travellers wanting to find and compare hotels. Today, for a small number of users, Google is to start experimenting with a new feature that will show the specific prices for the hotels listed.
When searching in Google Maps with this feature you will be able to enter the dates that you plan to stay and see real process on selected listings. You can then click on the price, allowing you to see the list of advertisers who have provided Google with pricing information for that particular hotel. At the moment this seems to include travel portals such as Expedia, Priceline etc…
Google hopes that by adding this information directly to the results panel, it will make this part of the trip much easier and efficient, allowing you to concentrate on enjoying the destination!
Here is an example of the search results for someone searching ‘hotels New York’.
Google has emphasised in today’s announcement that this new feature will not change the way that hotels are ranked in Google Maps. Google will remain to rank hotels based on their relevance to the search term along with geographical distance, regardless of the associated price.
Google has said that it will be evaluating feedback that is received over the coming weeks, before it decides to make it available to further users.
