• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 16, 2022

People are ready to get back to business and vacation travel after two years of lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. MediaPost has begun to hold its conferences in prime destinations. I have already booked more than one hotel stay for the year.

Search volume typically rises in March, according to Microsoft Advertising. Despite the surge of COVID-19, 51% of consumers late last year said they were comfortable traveling, with an additional 10% expecting to be comfortable by April 2022, according to the data. 

As consumers begin to prepare for their spring and summer vacations, Microsoft Advertising Insights found several key search trends for advertisers to keep in mind as they plan campaigns.

Travel searches and clicks tend to rise in April across most subcategories, and the momentum continues into the summer months. Certain subcategories, such as Family Vacations & Travel, Accommodations and Regional Parks & Gardens, drive high volumes in the spring. And 60% of survey respondents are planning vacations earlier.

More travelers have pets, and as a result, pet-friendly travel searches are on the rise, so Microsoft suggests that marketers use Broad match and Dynamic Search Ads to stay on top of new queries.

Some 23 million U.S. homes welcomed a new pet during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of those homes, 65% said they were interested in traveling with their pet, according to the data.

Microsoft’s study created in 2021 found that 51% of consumers were comfortable traveling, but an additional 10% will become comfortable traveling by April 2022.

Some 59% of respondents to Microsoft’s survey said they plan to take domestic-only trips in 2022, while 37% are planning both domestic and international vacations in 2022. This, of course, was prior to Russia invading Ukraine and suggesting that the United States return Alaska to Russia.

Microsoft Advertising recently brought its feed-based travel ads -- from hotels to tours and activities -- on to the Audience Network.

“There are 20 billion daily cross-screen data signals,” and if someone shows interest in travel, “we can likely target them across the Microsoft Audience Network,” said John Lee, Microsoft Advertising evangelist, during a video meeting on Wednesday.

As travel begins to recover, companies like Adobe, Google and Microsoft have begun to release features to help hotels and travel destinations reach consumers looking for places to stay and things to do.

Adobe Target, which will soon be available, will release model controls where brands will be able to analyze only the data that is most relevant for their specific campaign or activity type.

For example, a hotel may want to present to site visitors who live within a 50-mile radius and have booked or shown interest in a weekend stay. In this case, customer attributes such as device type, weather, and loyalty status may not be beneficial and can be excluded to increase personalization.  An integration between Adobe Target and Adobe Real-Time CDP, brands can combine historical customer data with current behavior to personalize experiences across websites, mobile applications, and more.

Google today expanded the reach of its free hotel booking links from Google Travel to Google Search and Maps. The series of product features for hotels and travel sites enable businesses to directly connect with customers on its platforms.

Along with the expansion, hotel free click reporting is where brands gain insight into customer traffic patterns they received through Google.

Google has also made it easier for hotels to share their rates and availability on Google — without complex technical requirements. Beginning next month, individual hotels that meet eligibility requirements can manually input their rates through their Google Business Profile to participate in free hotel booking links. 

Reporting in Hotel Center also now shows partners how many people clicked on their free booking links. Google said it will expand the report to include free booking link impressions and booking value in the coming weeks. 

Since health concerns, flexibility and availability are still top of mind for many of today’s travelers. Local Posts for Google Business Profile allows owners to share timely updates about their hotels, such as changes due to COVID-19, including whether the hotel is open or closed, and updates made to amenities or policies.

Descriptions of special features that are uniquely available at the hotel, along with any images and videos.