Destinations Just Trying to Make Google Happy Are Missing the Bigger Picture
Skift Take
The travel industry is beholden to Google for its SEO, targeted ads, keywords . . . and Google has figured out a way to drum up more business by getting everyone to play their game more rigorously. Dr Seuss, as always, provides a healthy dose of perspective.
For years, tourism conferences have been featuring a speaker from Google’s Travel Team.
The idea behind inviting him or her -- and it's usually a rotating cast of representatives, with few exceptions -- to speak is that destinations and their travel-industry members can hear directly from the mouth of The Big G (that’s Google, not God, whose all-powerfulness can’t guarantee you get on the first page of search results). The hope for attendees is that they can somehow unravel the giant SEO mystery and help elevate their search rankings so potential visitors can find them online.
Google’s basic answer: Good content and, of course, money. That’s not quite how they word it, though. Here’s how a frequent Google Travel speaker was listed on a conference brochure for South Dakota: “Google works one-on-one with destination marketers to understand the changing online landscape and develop integrated, measurable marketing strategies. [Googl
