Vacation rental listings appear alongside organic search results on Google. Travelers can discover listings by browsing relevant keywords in Google Search, exploring destinations in Google Maps, or filtering for vacation rentals in Google Travel’s dedicated lodging search.
Supercontrol is able to offer you a connection to Google Vacation Rentals. However before requesting a connection you must ensure you read and ensure the minimum content requirements below are in place for your listings to go live on Google.
STEP 1: To speed up the onboarding process to Google as much as possible please take a look at the information below regarding Google's minimum content requirements and recommendations. SuperControl validates most of this information already, especially for other integrations, so its likely you already have all of this content ready to go. However please pay attention to point 8 as this isn't a common one with other channels yet and its a non negotiable with Google.
Minimum content validation (Google API requirements that will fail validation on their side and wont allow the property to be onboarded without):
1.Property must have at least five photos.
(Max width is 4000 px, Max height is 4000 px, Max size is 10 mb, Accepted formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP. No watermarks or branding.)
- Google recommends 8 as the minimum with 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 common area included
- Google strongly recommends 20 or more 'for competitive advantage'
2. Property must have a title/name
3. Property must have a latitude
4. Property must have a longitude
5. Latitude and longitude combination must be a real, logical place
6. Property must not be a hotel
7. Property must have an occupancy allowed
8. Property must have a property listing page on a website that Google can redirect guests to for each property.
This is taken by Google from within SuperControl.. under Properties> Edit> Select property> Go> Choose “Show on websites” from the sub menu or scroll down to the bottom of the property settings. (Example screenshot attached) and enter your individual property website URL, then save.
Google also mark down listings for:
1. Lack of property description
2. Property description and property title being the same e.g Name: Beautiful Lake View cottage sleeps 6 Description: Beautiful Lake view Cottage....
Email [email protected] or add a support ticket via your SuperControl account to request us to connect your listings to Google. To speed the process up even more, in your request you can confirm you have completed the check on your properties for Google's minimum requirements.
Please only request connection when the above minimum content guidelines have been met.
What to expect after you have requested a connection
Support will connect the properties up in the background via API's after you have requested and confirmed you have completed the minimum content requirements. Googles average onboarding time is currently anywhere between 24 hours- 2 weeks. There is no definitive reason for the length of time it takes to onboard.
A frequently asked question or common feedback we get from owners/agencies listing on Google is "Why cant I find my listings?" or "How do guests find my listings?"
Since Google Vacation Rentals doesn't typically work the same as other booking platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com, its intended use is slightly different and it relies on giving the consumer a wide variety of options when booking a holiday or place to stay.
It intends to work like this;
The guest "Google searches" a location, and in the results they are delivered place to stay, places to eat, & travel options.
The places to stay results at the moment are more saturated by Hotels considering that is where Google Hotels started. Over time and with more exposure in the Vacation Rental market Google advise that the results between Hotels and Vacation rentals will level out.
For now though the ideal process is that the guest would search "Holiday Rentals in.." "Vacation rentals in..." "Short term lets in.." "Self catering accommodation in.." and the results would deliver an example like the below:
The guest can then click into a particular listing or to view all properties, and if its a holiday rental then the landing page finds them on "Google Vacation Rentals".
If they select dates and see a price they click Visit site.
"Official site" should always be the top result, this is the listing coming directly from SuperControl through Google. Its ideally also the most competitive price because other sites listed underneath tend to be affiliates or third parties which commonly include uplifts, to cover listing fee's.
Once the guest clicks Visit site they are redirected straight to the SuperControl booking cart on your website, so they can simply continue to book.
This is also why Google requires property owners or managers connected through SuperControl to link property website URL's to their properties under Properties>Edit>Show on websites in your SuperControl account. If the guest doesn't choose dates and doesn't see a price, they can still be linked through to your direct property listing page to also book from there.
If you are connected to other channels through SuperControl such as Booking.com & Vrbo you may find that these affiliates are showing on your search results under your Google Vacation Rental listing. This is because Google aggregates all data connected to one listing/property. In some examples you may see sites that you have never signed up to such as "Bluepillow" these are often third party affilates of the channels, BluePlillow is a connected affiliate to Booking.com. You can ask for this to be removed by contacting Booking.com directly.
As above, the Google Vacation Rental booking process is to redirect the guest straight to the booking cart on your direct website to book. So there is no functionality or any need to uplift your prices for Google VR listings.
Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) uses AI and automation to display and manage property data, but the control over customization is limited for property owners/managers. Here’s how it works:
Automated Data Synchronization
- Google does not allow direct manual edits by property owners.
- Instead, it automatically pulls data from approved partner platforms or property management software (in this case, SuperControl)
- AI ensures that listings stay updated in real time with pricing, availability, and descriptions.
Google Vacation Rentals has Limited customization compared to Google Business Profile (GBP).
Owners cannot directly log into Google to edit listings, you must update details via SuperControl. Changes sync automatically to Google Vacation Rentals.
There is no option to manually change ranking, layout, or photos in Google’s interface.
What Owners CAN Control (Through SuperControl):
✔ Property Description & Photos
✔ Pricing & Availability
However, Google’s AI decides how the listing is displayed based on user preferences and search trends.
Google Hotels and Google Vacation Rentals (Google VR) are both Google-powered travel search platforms, but they serve different types of accommodations.
Google Hotels is the original booking platform on Google that previously allowed bookings for both hotels and vacation rentals all on the same platform. Google have since evolved and split the two separately, with separate API's.
Listing Display on Google
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Google Hotels
- Listings appear in a dedicated "Hotels" search and on Google Maps.
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Google VR
- Listings appear in a dedicated "Vacation Rentals" tab within Google Hotels and on Google Maps.
As SuperControl is a Property Management System for Vacation Holiday Rentals Google only allow us to connect with them via the Vacation Rentals API. Property owners or managers cannot connect via the Hotels platform.
Google differentiate a Hotel and a Vacation rental by if the answer is Yes to the below questions:
- Have a front desk or on-site management?
- Accept overnight guests?
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Have their property and business address listed publicly?
Click Here to see their documentation on this for more context.
A Google Business Listing (officially called Google Business Profile) is a free online listing that helps businesses appear in Google Search and Google Maps when people search for relevant products or services. It acts as a digital storefront, providing key business details to potential customers. While Google Business Profile (GBP) and Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) both help businesses appear in Google Search, they serve different purposes.
Google Vacation Rental listings allow direct bookings, Google Business Profile only provides consumers with the contact information to contact the business.
In the context of a property owner or manager, Google business listing can be used in the case where you want to set up the main business advert, or the conglomerate of your company.