Google removes ‘ads’ and ‘sponsored’ labels from flight search results

Google says that this month it will “no longer charge partners for referral links on Google Flights.” As a result, the company is removing the “ads” and “sponsored” labels from Google Flights and the flights unit in Google search results.

Online travel agencies such as Expedia, now considers Google its biggest competitor. And TripAdvisor is “cutting hundreds of jobs” in response to Google competition, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Spending on leisure and business travel is a more than $1 trillion market according to the U.S. Travel Association. And digital advertising in the travel vertical is now approaching $10 billion. Google is aiming to capture more of those travel ad dollars, in part by making itself a preferred travel destination with better tools and content. For many travel marketers that means stepping up Google My Business participation. As a practical matter, it also means more paid search advertising for travel incumbents and most others in the vertical.