Google Things to do
Google Things to do is the latest addition to the Google Travel portfolio. It aims to do for the Tours and Activities industry what it has already done for Flights and Hotels by making it easier for users to find bookable experiences.
As an official connectivity partner, Magpie can help you get everything set up to maximize your exposure and direct traffic and keep you up to date and compliant with new features as the program evolves.
Where can my products show up?
There are many surfaces that are part of the Google Things to do program visible on Desktop, Mobile and Google Maps apps. You can read about the different surfaces below.
Google Things to do Ad Carousel
The first surface we will cover is probably the first one you will come across. The Tickets & Tours carousel can be seen at the top of a lot of tour and activity related search terms such as “things to do in [your location]” or “[your location] tours”. To have your products in here, you need to have your products uploaded by a connectivity partner like Magpie and then run Travel Campaigns in your Google Ads account. Data suggests that where this carousel appears, roughly 30% of traffic from further down the page is lost. If you do well organically or are running regular search ads you could already be losing traffic to this carousel.
Activities and Tours Carousel
The Activities and Tours carousel appears on mobile search when a user searches for tours in a specific location. In the examples below you can see results for different locations as well as different tour types. Google plans to expand this in 2024 to cover other experience related search terms such as “cruises”, “trips”, “adventures” etc. They also plan to expand it in languages other than English.
Try it for yourself. Search your “[your location] tours” and see if the your products show up.
Operator Booking Module
The Operator Booking Module appears on the Google Business profiles of experience operators (not attractions) on desktop and mobile search as well as the Google Maps app. If you are the owner of the Google Business Profile you should be listed at the top with the “Official Site” tag.
Admissions Module
The Google Things to do Admissions Module appears on the Google Business profiles of attraction operators on desktop, mobile search as well as Google Maps. You can be listed here if you sell an entrance ticket or pass that includes entry to the attraction. If you are the owner of the attraction you will be listed at the top and have the “Official Site” tag.
Experiences Module
The Google Things to do Experiences Module appears on Points of Interest (POIs) on desktop, mobile search as well as Google Maps. You can be listed here if you visit a POI on an experience you offer. In the example below, a bus tour that visits the San Francisco Ferry Building has its products listed when a user searches the Ferry Building.
Why choose Magpie?
Just like good SEO, this program requires attention to detail to be successful and we give you the tools, expertise and control over your listings that you won’t get with any other connectivity partner or through your own Google Business profile. Work with the Google Things to do experts at Magpie to get your products listed on as many surfaces as possible.
With Magpie you control
Points of interest (POIs)
Get your products listed against the points of interest that matter to you.
Product Content
Make sure your content has the keywords that drive your traffic.
Review information
Add the review information from your website to increase your product exposure.
Link direct to your site
Get the traffic to your own website domain, not your booking software’s.
Tracking parameters
Add custom tracking parameters to track your success in Google Analytics.
Product images
Control the images you have representing your products on Ads and other surfaces.
Languages
Upload your content to Google in multiple languages.
Official Site tag
Make sure you have the Official Site tag on your tour or attraction profile.
Travel Campaign Ads
Boost your traffic by running Travel Campaigns to feature in Ads carousel.
