Recent report on hotel reputation puts Google as top site for reviews

In the recent Hotel Reputation Benchmark Report 2019 by Revinate, a report that analyses reviews for over 140,000 hotels in over 200 countries, has highlighted that there is a continued growth of reviews via websites and OTAs.

Perhaps what was more surprising and would probably lead to more chatter in the room is that for the first time, Google has moved into the number one spot for review distributions by site. In last year’s report, Google reportedly saw a staggering 207% increase in reviews in 2017. A 75% increase in 2018 means it has taken over from Booking.com as the site that generates the highest number of reviews – 30.1 million to be exact. Booking.com only saw a 10% increase in review volume, generating 28.3 million reviews. In third place is Tripadvisor with 11.3 million. These three contributed the lion’s share of reviews.

This data point is another signal of Google’s growing domination in the online travel sphere. It continues to infiltrate the travel booking process at every point. 

“Recent changes show that the company is getting more serious about giving OTAs a run for their money with a meta-search and booking tool, which promises to grow to be a one-stop shop for travel,” wrote Zach Dempy, Revinate’s Marketing Content Manager in a recent blog. 

“Google will even tell you if you’re getting a deal based on their historical rate data.  You can also filter by rating, amenity or deal to ensure you find the best hotel for your needs,” he added.

His advice? Keep your eyes on this channel. 

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