Source: Search Engine Journal
As Google moves toward handling transactions directly within search results through generative UI, travel and hospitality brands face an urgent decision: cede customer relationships to Google or invest in owned channels now. Google already captures intent at the moment of search, and generative interfaces that complete bookings without requiring users to leave their ecosystem will compress margins for intermediaries like OTAs while making direct-to-brand discovery harder. Brands that wait for this shift to fully materialize will compete on Google's terms, with the platform extracting value at every transaction step.