Intro
[00:00:00] Mark: Never before have I seen one person's video cause ripples amongst the Facebook groups, my inbox, my DMs. The video that I'm talking about is Mr. Sean Rakidzich's YouTube video, which is very nicely titled. This site could destroy Airbnb. Now, I'm all for a video like this. It's beautiful and I love to see it.
[00:00:30] But, uh, I needed to record this because there are a lot of people that are getting, posting in Facebook groups, coming into our Facebook groups, sending me messages, saying about Google Vacation Rentals. Uh, so the video starts like this your short-term rental in 2023. That's not Airbnb. Really? I mean, Sean is probably one of the best in terms of production video.
[00:00:55] He knows what he's doing. The video, if you haven't seen it, is over on YouTube. This site could destroy Airbnb. Go and check it out. 12 minutes. But what he talks about here, just to give you a little summary, let me see if I can cut to it where we go through it. But here we go. Uh, Google. Vacation rentals, which are in here.
[00:01:14] Now, there are a lot of things that we need to cut into this, but as the title says, how to get listed on Google vacation rentals. Now, Google vacation rentals are nothing new. If anybody has been following this channel for a while, uh, let me just quickly share my screen here. This was a video that I did seven months ago.
[00:01:34] The difference between Google vacation rentals and Google business listings. Okay. In this office, um, we, we went through it, we went through in detail, we shared screens. So Google business listing that for the world of short-term rentals that are disappearing and disappearing quickly. If you've got a Google business listing account and you've got your short-term rental accommodation business on there, And when I say short-term rental accommodation, this is anywhere that hasn't got a front desk, hasn't got a physical, um, somebody behind the desk to check in, then you will have your listing removed, it is being delisted, and it's happening automatically, as far as I'm aware, you don't even get a message, it just happens, so they are removing you from that, and they are pushing all short term rental accommodation, uh, to, um, Google vacation rentals.
[00:02:23] And again, if you want to know the distinct features between the two, go and check out the video. Just type in the difference between Google vacation rentals and Google business listings. Boostly type into search and you'll find the video. This video is to show you exactly how. to get listed on Google Vacation Rentals.
[00:02:42] And it is super clear, it is super obvious, and it's super straightforward. And I've been given word from very high-up sources that this is going to be how it is going to be. There's not going to be any workaround. And to sort of burst a few people's bubbles, I'm afraid that the only way to get listed on Google Vacation Rentals. is via your property management software or a channel manager, whatever you want to call them.
You have to be a Google Vacation Rental Integration Partner
[00:03:09] You have to be a Google vacation rental integration partner and a connectivity partner. And just to give you a bit of an idea, and you may be thinking, well, I want to become a connectivity partner to get on this program.
[00:03:22] You need to have. Um, at least let's just say 10, 000 listings. Okay, it has to be quantity because they don't want to work with everybody. They just want to work with the few that's going to give them the data that's going to give them the inventory that's going to give them the listings. Okay, so the easiest way for you to get listed on Google vacation rentals and again, I talk about it in here and Sean talks about it here so well is that there are going to be a lot of people that will start their search or still start their search on Google and they will go to Google maps.
[00:03:58] They will go and ask Bard, which is going to be there. The, the, the generative AI bot. And they are going to be picking their results from Google vacation rentals. So if somebody comes in, if I, for example, uh, in a couple of months, we'll speak to my device and say, hey, bad, uh, I'm going to be going to Orlando.
[00:04:15] I need you to find me a place. There's no more than a 20-minute drive, uh, from, uh, Disneyland. Disney World, uh, I've got, you know, I've got to sleep six people, it's got to have a pool, it's got to have X, Y, and Z. It will pluck results from Google Vacation Rentals, right? It's not going to pluck it from Airbnb, it's not going to pluck it from Vrbo, why would it?
[00:04:36] It wants to give it the results that it is going to provide. So to be on there, you need to be… One of those connectivity patterns is one of those property management software now if you want to find this Support question just literally type in Google vacation rentals partners Okay, do not get fooled by these hotel prices.
[00:04:56] It's not that they are rewording everything So if you don't see your property management software tool on here, then you cannot get added It's as simple as that. Um, now if you are with one of these, congratulations, there is a very high chance that you've already been listed on there and not been made aware.
[00:05:17] Most property management software tools right now, are adapting their portfolio, their property, and their product to be able to get you on there now. You may be thinking, fantastic, this is lovely news. Uh, I'm going to be getting tons of direct bookings. I'm going to be getting tons of people finding me, on Google.
[00:05:38] This is great. Or I'm going to go in and I'm going to, uh, amend it right now. How do I log in? How do I amend it? Well, this is the bad news. If you've got a Google business listing, you will know that you can go into it and you can amend the pictures, amend the copy, post an update, put offers in, could do all the cool things that a Google business listing allows.
[00:06:05] Now with Google vacation rentals, You don't get that. You don't get that benefit at all. The information that is in your property management software tool is the information that gets synced to Google Vacation Rentals. Now let me just share my screen for a client that we've been working with this year and I'll give you an idea of how it looks right.
[00:06:29] So we're in here now and I'm gonna just zoom on in so you can all see it clear as day. If I scroll down here, you'll see it will say Airbnb, Booking. com, Vrbo, Google Vacation Rentals. Okay. So the information that gets synced through is rates, bookings, availabilities, um, automated messages, create listings.
[00:06:54] That is it. There's nothing else that you can go in and do. And whatever information that you have on your listing within your property management software tool, is the information that is being sent out to Google. You, you know, you don't get to change anything. It is literally what is on there is what is seen.
[00:07:16] Now, this is a big letdown. And from, again, from the top sources that I've been speaking to, from what I am aware, that's never going to change because this is the main difference between a Google business listing and a Google vacation rental. They just want the same information to go in. Um, and they're not going to be, well, they want to direct it back to your diary booking website, which is key to having a diary booking website, which is beautiful for the diary booking movement.
[00:07:43] But for me, what would make this product fantastic and what made me want to talk about it more and create videos on this would be for you to be able to go in and edit, but you're not going to get the opportunity to do so. And again, the client I've got an, you know, I've gone and found the listing and I've seen reports in Facebook groups saying Google have been pulling in some random places, random results, ones that aren't even open anymore, et cetera.
[00:08:09] And it's just, it's, it's just not there right now. So, for the number of people that are worrying about Google vacation rentals, for the number of people that are going, how do I do X? How do I do Y? I've had people messaging me saying, I'm on Boostly, the Boostly website. How do I get on Google? This is me recording this video to say you don't have the power.
[00:08:32] You can't amend it. You can't dictate it. You have to be on one of these property management software tools that is a partner of Google. Now, if you don't see your property management software tool on there, then I would be messaging them instantly to say, Hey, when's it going to happen? and they will be adding more and they've added a heck of a lot since I was last on this page.
Property management software tools ahead of the game
[00:08:57] Um, I will be paying very close attention to it because at the end of the day, for me, this shows which channel managers, which property management software tools Uh, ahead of the game in terms of product, product development, relationships are built in, in the industry. So it's, it's a, it's a telling sign to me if there aren't your property management software tools on there yet, obviously keep checking it back.
[00:09:23] This has been recorded in October 2023. Um, this product will be very different in, you know, January 2024, as it will be in June 2024, uh, especially with, um, generative AI becoming more of a thing, you know, voice search, et cetera, et cetera. So for now, don't worry about it. If you see it on the list, brilliant, you can't affect it.
[00:09:45] You can't amend it. It's not like an Airbnb listing that you can change all of the things. There are no algorithms that you can influence. It is feeding in your price. Your pictures are pretty much it. Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Boostly podcast, Bruce Lee. Let Bruce Lee 'cause it's so hard on the tees.
[00:10:00] Loosely making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely.
