Recently, Google announced they were changing their algorithm – again. Again.
This isn’t considered a major algorithm change for Google and as a matter of fact only appears on mobile. Note that.

So what is this new change? It’s a product called Google Destinations, and it’s a game changer for the travel and tourism industry. The change is pretty summed up in this quote- “In fact, last year, according to our internal data for google.com, we saw a whopping 50 percent increase in travel-related questions on mobile phones. But even as that number grows, it can be hard to get all the right information in one place on a small screen.”

Google is making it easier to find travel related information on its mobile search. What does this mean for marketers like us? It’s not totally clear, but I have a few key takeaways.

Takeaway #1: The sky isn’t falling.

Even for an internet marketing company like us that has specialized in travel and tourism for nearly 20 years.

At first glance, this seems like Google is intervening in our business and making it harder for us to help our clients be seen. When you take a second look however, the emphasis is on larger hotel properties and airlines like Expedia and Delta.  It will benefit them without hurting the rest of us.

Takeaway #2: Tourism is huge right now.

Some of the stats Google is giving on Tourism are astounding. Like the above quoted 50% increase in travel searches. The way I see it is Millennials are all about having experiences, rather than acquiring things. That seems to be reflected in the search volume for travel and tourism.Google wouldn’t jump behind a product release unless they saw substantial evidence for it.

Takeaway #2: Google just gave away something huge!

Part of me wants to keep this a secret. It will give me the competitive edge when helping my travel and tourism clients. The other part of me is willing to lend a hand. Google just laid it all out there for us to see. What did they give away in this new product? Tourism keywords.

If you go play around in the new Google Destinations searches, you will find loads of exact match, longtail keywords. Valuable keywords that you will want to rank for. I can’t give it all away, but I can tell you it almost seems like a mistake on Google’s part. It’s likely not, but I will take advantage of it in the meantime.

What are your thoughts on Google’s new handy mobile tool? Are you using it yet? Have you found it hurting or helping your tourism clients?

Need some help in the travel and tourism marketing segment? Hit us up!

 

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