Hotel Aggregator Platform Policies

The following platform policies apply to all Point of Interest (POI) data submissions and brand configurations in the Hotel Aggregator Unit. All Lodging partners must also comply with Google Search's overall policies and Search feature policies. Non-compliance with these policies will result in data or brand localization rejection and potential offer suppression.

Eligibility criteria for the Hotel Aggregator Unit

Lodging businesses are eligible to appear in the Hotel Aggregator Unit when they are approved as a Vertical Search Service (VSS), they provide the necessary data, and they meet the established quality standards to participate. Given the aggregator unit will only appear in response to certain queries, businesses must have the relevant content for the respective query to be eligible for the aggregator unit. Eligible aggregators that want to participate must provide data to populate a unit by direct data feed integrations. For more information on eligibility criteria and how to express interest for your region, see the Aggregator unit documentation.

Search Content Policy - Image

All partner-provided images must comply with Google Search Image Policy.

Technical and dimensional standards

  • Image Quality: All images must be clear and free of significant compression artifacts, blurriness, or pixelation.
  • Format: Images must conform to required raster specifications (JPEG, PNG, WebP).
  • Quantity Limits: Partners can submit a maximum of five (5) images per POI listing. Excess images will be dropped at ingestion.

Accuracy of lodging representation

  • Real-World Condition: Listing images must reflect the honest and real-world condition of the hotel, accurately representing the physical space, layout, and amenities of the lodging property.
  • Prohibition of AI-Generated Content: Google strictly prohibits the submission of AI-generated imagery or visual assets that have been digitally modified, falsified, or heavily edited to distort room dimensions, scenic views, or property conditions.

Human presence and compositional focus

  • Location: Humans may only appear in communal or public areas of the lodging property (e.g., lobby, dining halls, public gardens, communal pools).
  • Compositional Focus: The physical space and lodging amenities must be the central focus of the image. Humans must remain background or contextual elements and must not dominate the composition.
  • Appropriate Attire: Any individuals depicted must exhibit appropriate posture and standard clothing. Images must completely avoid human presence that could be perceived as offensive, suggestive, or indicative of nudity.
  • Framing: When humans are included, the photo must depict full-body or natural context shots rather than focusing on isolated body parts.

Examples

Acceptable:

  • A family dressed in standard attire having dinner in the lodging property's dining hall or restaurant.
  • Hospitality staff dressed in professional uniform welcoming guests at the front desk or lobby area.

Not acceptable:

  • Photos depicting individuals without clothing, or with limited/suggestive clothing, in private or relaxation environments (such as saunas, spas, or massage rooms).
  • Photos focusing strictly on isolated human body parts (for example, close-ups of heads, hands, or feet) rather than showcasing the property's physical spaces.

Search Content Policy - Text

All partner-provided written texts — including business names, lodging descriptions, addresses, and localized text fields — must remain professional, accurate, and comply with Google Search Content Policies and Google Search Feature Policies.

Truthfulness and data accuracy

  • Accurate Information: Text fields must reflect strictly truthful and up-to-date information about the lodging business, its official identity, and its physical location.
  • Business Names: Business name fields are restricted solely to the official business name. Including promotional slogans, non-standard symbols, contact details, pricing claims, or marketing calls-to-action is prohibited.

Cultural and geographical neutrality

  • Tone: All descriptions and written fields must be framed in professional, neutral language.
  • Inclusivity: Partners must ensure that texts are accessible, clear, and culturally respectful to users from diverse backgrounds.

The "See More" button (for example, "More on [Brand Name]") links out to the highest ranked blue link for the Vertical Search Service (VSS) for the query. If a blue link is not available, then Google uses the See More URL that you configure, allowing users to explore additional lodging options on your website.

When you configure a brand localization in Actions Center > Configuration > Brands (on the Lodging VSS tab), you must provide a See More URL and bare registrable domains for each country and language localization.

Your See More URL and domains configuration must meet all of the following requirements:

  • Consumer-facing lodging search or browse experience: The URL must lead to a consumer-facing page where users can actively search, browse, or explore hotels and lodging properties (for example, through a destination search bar, filters, or a browsable directory of accommodations).
  • No B2B or corporate marketing pages: Pages designed to promote software or services to businesses, such as B2B corporate homepages, extranet portals, agency marketing sites, or partner sign-up pages (for example, "List your property" or "Partner with us"), are strictly prohibited.
  • Broad destination scope: Because the See More URL applies to a country and language localization rather than a specific property or single destination, it must lead to a consumer lodging search or browse page that works across all lodging searches in that country and language (single-property landing pages or hardcoded single-city pages are prohibited).
  • Domain, brand, and logo alignment: Each entry in domains must be a bare registrable domain (for example, example.com or example.de, without https:// or www.) owned by your brand. The See More URL must match your brand's consumer-facing domain configured for that localization (and must not redirect to an unrelated third-party domain), and must align with the domains used for your Hotel Center Landing Pages and POI brand_landing_pages. The brand name and logo displayed in your unit must match the domain of the landing page. Each domain may only be associated with a single brand across the Lodging vertical.
  • Country and language match: The destination page must match the country and locale (language) configured for that brand localization.
  • Direct, unrestricted access: The URL must start with https:// and resolve to a working page (HTTP 200). Users must be able to view and browse lodging results on the web without logging in, creating an account, hitting a paywall, or downloading a mobile app.

Partner takedown reasons and issue descriptions

Google may disable your integration or inventory as necessary in order to maintain user expectation and experience. We will attempt to send a notification to you prior or at the takedown time and work with you to resolve the issue.

The following issue types describe the root causes of inventory takedowns and their associated policies and guidelines.

Search Content - Image Policy Violation

Issue Code: SAFE_SEARCH_POLICY_VIOLATION_IMAGE
Severity: Error (Blocks Serving)
Appealable: Yes

This violation occurs when an image URL provided in the images array is flagged for violating Google's Search content image policy.

How to Resolve:

  1. Option A: Replace the Image in Your Feed (Recommended)
    • Identify the flagged image in the Issue Details panel.
    • Replace the flagged image URL with an updated photo.
    • The issue will automatically clear upon the next successful ingestion batch.
  2. Option B: Submit an Appeal
    • If you believe the image was flagged in error (false positive), click Create Appeal in the Issue Details panel.
    • Select Do Not Agree and provide a brief justification explaining why the image complies with Google's Search image guidelines.

Search Content - Text Policy Violation

Issue Code: SAFE_SEARCH_POLICY_VIOLATION_TEXT
Severity: Severity varies per field (see the following details)
Appealable: Yes (Error only); No (Warning)

This violation occurs when textual content in your feed payload is flagged for violating the Google Search content text policy.

Check the Issue Details panel to identify which specific text field triggered the policy flag:

1. Flagged Property Name (name)

  • Severity & Serving Impact:
    • Default locale (name.default_locale): Error (Blocks Serving). The entire POI property is blocked from serving.
    • Non-default locale: Warning (Does Not Block Serving). Only the flagged localization is omitted; the POI remains eligible to serve using its default locale and other valid localizations.
  • Cause: The name field contains content violating the Google Search content text policy.
  • Remediation: Update name.localizations to contain only the official, registered business name of the hotel property.
  • Appeal (Default locale Error only): If the property's legal name in the default locale triggered a policy error, submit an appeal via Actions Center with verification of the business's official name. Warnings on non-default locales are not appealable and must be resolved by updating your feed.

2. Flagged Display Address (display_address)

  • Severity & Serving Impact: Warning (Does Not Block Serving). Does not block the POI from serving. If the violation occurs in the default_locale, the entire display_address field is omitted; if it occurs in a non-default locale, only that specific localization is omitted.
  • Appealable: No (Resolve by updating your POI feed).
  • Cause: The formatted address contains content prohibited in the Google Search content text policy.
  • Remediation: Update display_address.localizations to include only physical postal street address components (building number, street name, district, city, and postal code).

3. Flagged Description (description)

  • Severity & Serving Impact: Warning (Does Not Block Serving). Does not block the POI from serving. If the violation occurs in the default_locale, the entire description field is omitted; if it occurs in a non-default locale, only that specific localization is omitted.
  • Appealable: No (Resolve by updating your POI feed).
  • Cause: Property description copy in description.localizations contains content prohibited in the Google Search content text policy.
  • Remediation: Revise the description text to adhere to the Google Search content text policy.