Hostelworld on Google Maps Mania

[Hostels]

Hostelworld gets a mention on Google Maps Mania today:
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/...ogle-maps.html

The map also includes an innovative breadcrumb trail. When you zoom in on an individual city breadcrumb links are provided at the top of the map, which you can use to quickly zoom the map to a country view, a continent view or a world view.

[aboriginalhostel]

Wait a minute... How about Google Adwords on Hostelworld?

[santa klaus]

When you zoom in on an individual city breadcrumb links are provided at the top of the map, which you can use to quickly zoom the map to a country view, a continent view or a world view

... in case you forgot in which part of the world Europe is.

Originally Posted by aboriginalhostel

Wait a minute... How about Google Adwords on Hostelworld?

I saw that today, too. Waiting in awe to see a Google ad by Hostelbookers on Hostelworld.

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by santa klaus

I saw that today, too. Waiting in awe to see a Google ad by Hostelbookers on Hostelworld.

AdSense offers competitive ad filters. I'm sure they blocked ads from their main competitors. I did see ads for HI-USA and booking.com though.

Interesting experiment...

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by aboriginalhostel

Wait a minute... How about Google Adwords on Hostelworld?

I was just browsing around Hostelworld and came across this AdSense placement (click on attachment).

If there are no properties available for the category you choose, it shows a full page of ads. Very interesting.

[aboriginalhostel]

Originally Posted by Hostels

I was just browsing around Hostelworld and came across this AdSense placement (click on attachment).

If there are no properties available for the category you choose, it shows a full page of ads. Very interesting.

You know that's funny, as HW's search engine was never considered the best...

Let's try this feature and search for mistyped destinations or hostels!

Google is know for offering even more relevant results than HW, so I guess this move is a kick into HW's own balls...

So far it passed through my basic test but I guess there are smarter and pickier members than me on this forum...

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by aboriginalhostel

So far it passed through my basic test but I guess there are smarter and pickier members than me on this forum...

To get the AdSense, try searching for Grenoble hostels and then limit to "hostels" only... or enter some random letters into the search form.

Tripadvisor is another site with heavy "sponsored links". I attached a screenshot of the page of ads that pops up and covers my screen when I do a search on Tripadvisor.

I wonder if the future of booking engines is to integrate ads. Boo.com links directly to properties' websites, so there is a chance that some travelers will bypass the booking engines completely.