The Real Decision Behind Google Ads and OTAs

When discussing marketing investment with tourism operators, one question comes up almost every time:

“If OTAs only charge commission when they sell, and Google Ads requires upfront spend, does investing in direct channels really make sense?”

The honest answer is simple: it depends.

In tourism, there are no universal formulas. What works for a high-volume urban operator won’t work for a seasonal river cruise. Whether an investment makes sense depends on margin, conversion capability, and, above all, seasonality.

But there is one rule that applies to every operation: when sales are fully mediated by third parties, the brand that grows isn’t yours.

The Minimum Rule: Protecting Your Own Brand

Before thinking about acquiring new customers, there’s a more basic issue to address: not losing demand that is already actively looking for you.

Here’s a simple check. Search your company name on Google.

If the top result is an ad from Viator or GetYourGuide selling your own experience, something is off.

OTAs routinely bid on brand terms. So when someone actively searches for you, after a recommendation, a referral, or prior exposure, and clicks on an OTA instead, the sale happens on their platform. The demand was yours, but the margin wasn’t.

That’s why every mature operation follows a basic rule: branded campaigns aren’t optional, they’re mandatory protection.

They don’t exist to drive growth. They exist to keep high-intent traffic in your own channel, preserve margin, and maintain control over the customer relationship.

The Math: When Google Ads Actually Make Sense

For new customer acquisition, direct channels need to outperform the OTA commission, not emotionally, but financially.

If an OTA takes 25%, the benchmark for Google Ads is straightforward: keep acquisition costs consistently below the 15–20% range.

Whether that’s achievable depends on three core variables:

• the maximum cost per sale your operation can absorb
• your website’s conversion performance
• and how precisely you target high-intent search terms

During low-demand periods, broad or generic campaigns rarely make sense. The focus shifts to contextual searches, tied to specific dates, locations, and clear booking intent.

And it’s worth being clear about this: in some scenarios, the OTA is simply the smarter option. Strategy exists to protect margin and operational balance, not to prove a point.

If cost per click (CPC) starts exceeding immediate margin, staying invested only makes sense when it’s part of a broader strategy. Without a wider objective, beyond direct sales, high CPCs are just inefficiency, not growth.

Brand Investment: Building Long-Term Value

There’s one factor no spreadsheet captures immediately: brand value.

When a booking happens through an OTA, the customer belongs to the platform. In many cases, the operator behind the experience barely registers. The experience may have been excellent, but the credit stayed with “Viator.”

Investing in your own traffic means paying for the customer to enter your shop:

• they encounter your brand and visual identity
• they understand your story and positioning
• and they become part of your own customer database

Customers who book directly are far more likely to recommend you by name, “I booked with Company X”, rather than referencing the platform they used.

That word-of-mouth turns into future demand you don’t have to pay for, but it only exists if you invest in your brand today.

This cumulative effect doesn’t appear in monthly CPA (cost per acquisition) reports, but it creates real value over time.

One size doesn’t fit all or every operation

Context matters more than channels.

• A small operation with tight margins may rely on OTA exposure to gain traction.
• A business carrying fixed costs and idle capacity needs bookings that convert quickly and generate cash flow.
• And when demand is highly seasonal, bidding logic that works in August can be completely wrong in January.

Problems start when every channel is treated as if it served the same purpose.

They don’t.

OTAs are built for volume. Google Ads is a lever for control.

The right strategy isn’t about choosing sides, it’s about combining both in a way that reflects the real constraints of the operation.