Photos and images help tell the authentic and compelling story of your hotel or vacation rental listing. They’re also one of the primary ways people learn about your property on Google, and they play a critical role in whether travelers decide to book.
This article gives an overview of the various methods lodging partners and property owners can use to provide images to Google. It also details how these images are used across Google platforms, including organic search results and travel ads.
On this page
- Price feed (Room Bundles)
- Partner Property Feed
- Third-party image providers
- Google Business Profile (GBP) images (Users and business owners)
Price feed (Room Bundles)
Images provided through Price Feeds are specifically designated for Room Bundles. These assets are used exclusively for promotional display within specific ad units. Room bundles are exclusively used by Lodging integration partners.
- How it’s used: Only used for Room bundle images in Travel ads.
- Surface visibility: Appears exclusively for the partner providing the images within their specific ad modules.
- Implementation: Refer to the Room Bundles Metadata Developer Guide for context and the Transaction Messages XML Reference for syntax.
Property Feed
The Property Feed (also known as the Hotel List Feed) allows partners to provide high-quality images that can be surfaced across both organic and ad surfaces.
- How it’s used: General property representation across Google.
- Surface visibility: Eligible to show in all organic surfaces and travel ads where applicable.
Important:When used in Travel ads, images are only eligible for ads for the partner who provided them. A partner’s images will never be used for ads for another partner.
- Implementation: Follow the Hotel List Feed XML syntax.
- Note: Additional configuration is required to utilize this feature. Contact your Google representative or our support team for more information.
Third-party image providers
Google maintains integrations with authorized third-party image providers to streamline the delivery of professional visual assets and enhance the overall user experience on Google surfaces.
- How it’s used: Professional image distribution for properties utilizing third-party content management systems.
- Surface visibility: Displayed across organic results and Travel ads for participating partners.
Google Business Profile (GBP) images
Property owners and end users can contribute visual content directly to a property's business profile.
- How it’s used: General property representation across Google.
- Surface visibility: Eligible to appear on organic surfaces.
- Implementation: Upload content directly through the Google Business Profile dashboard or via Google Maps. Refer to the GBP Help Center for detailed instructions.