In July we saw a number of hotels and hospitality business listings say they are seeing the ability to use Google Posts but Google we were told it might be a bug and not a feature. Well, it was a feature Google was testing, because now hotels can use Google Posts officially.

Google updated the Business profile posts content policy to add a new section for hotel posts, it reads:

Hotel businesses can create local posts to provide relevant, timely info to customers. Examples of helpful posts include COVID-19 protocols, updates to amenities or renovations, and events that take place on the property.
Hotels can’t create “offer” posts, or any post that suggests the existence of or that links out to deals, promotions, special offers, or discounts. This ensures that customers don’t get confused about where to navigate on the hotel placesheet to find organic and ad prices from partners.

I spotted this updated document via Joy Hawkins and then Damian Rollison responded to her saying “We were told this was coming by the hotels team several weeks ago but we weren’t allowed to say anything. The suspense has been killing me 🙂 Yes, it’s official that hotels can now publish what’s new, event, and COVID-19 posts but not offer or product posts.”

So now hotels have a bit more features at their disposal to communicate with customers.

Forum discussion at Twitter.