
Deep Dive Special Edition – Darren Shaw of Whitespark, just released the 2017 Local Search Factor Ranking Factor Survey results. Join Darren and Mike Blumenthal as they discuss the results.
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Nice discussion. I believe one point wasn’t adequately explained. Specifically Lisa Kolb’s reference to hotels with booking information supplied by the OTA’s (online travel agents). Expedia is a prime example. Expedia earned about $6 billion last year as a web based booking company.
Google, in a severe case of deliberate understatement describes the OTA’s as its “partners”
Partners means that if an OTA showing in something such as the local PAC books a hotel room, google makes some money.
Ergo!!!!! The local PAC, the local finder and booking through them is monetized.
A hotel can show availability and price on is own. It doesn’t need the OTA’s .
Lisa discovered if B&B’s (who tend to pay huge % fees to OTA’s if they use them) don’t use OTA’s they tend to drop out of the PAC and/or drop way down in the local finder rankings
Gentlemen: That is a pay to play “scheme”
And pay to play has little (or nothing) to do with links or citations or NAP consistency, etc etc
That is a HUGE finding and very different than discussed.