Search engine marketing at Bookit: attribution, future vision & the relationship with Google
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 6:01 am
I recently spoke with Karel Vos, CEO of Bookit. Bookit has been a provider of short-stay holidays in the Benelux at bungalow parks and in hotels since 2000. Karel has earned his spurs in the leisure industry and has been associated with Bookit for 16 years. In this article you can read about his vision and ideas in the field of search engine marketing.
Series 'Search engine marketing at…'
The Search committee of the DDMA focuses on promoting the field of search engine marketing in the Netherlands, through knowledge sharing and education. In the series 'Search engine marketing at…' we discuss the activities in the field of search engine marketing at organizations. Previously Nuon , Het Rode Kruis , UPC , Bol.com and OTTO were discussed.
Dominance in marketing
Bookit is known for websites such as Weekendjeweg.nl and Bungalows.nl. Karel has a long experience with SEA and did this himself for Bookit in the early years of SEA in the Netherlands. After that he was never able and willing to let it go and always interfered.
The dominance in SEA currently lies with Google and the fact that there is a dominant player in marketing is not strange to Bookit. In the 90s, within the leisure industry, it was the ANWB that was the dominant player. There were waiting times for advertisements in the Kampioen and the prices for full-page advertisements were around 45,000 guilders. The current situation is of course different. Much has changed in the past 20 years, but there is still a dominant player.
Bookit and Google
Google SearchThe relationship with Google is a love-hate relationship for Bookit. Karel talks about his experience with Google since the rise of SEA in 2002 and about how he sees the organic reach within Google getting smaller and smaller. The SERP is increasingly filled with paid results.
The recent changes to the SERP for desktop/laptop are another example of this. “Google sells this by saying that it can offer more relevance to the user, but in short, Google is a armenia telegram number list commercial organization that puts paid results at the top. Knowing that the user is a creature of habit and predominantly clicks on the top results,” says Karel.
On the other hand, Bookit realizes very well that it has to be visible in the paid results to generate traffic and not lose traffic to competitors. According to Karel, SEA (read Google) is a necessary evil and every advertiser has to deal with the rules that Google imposes on them. Karel would prefer to see more cooperation with Google to jointly bring the business goals for both organizations to a higher level.
So what is the future of Google?
Google will always exist, but Google's dominance will decrease. That is Karel's vision for the future. Bookit keeps a close eye on these developments and also responds to them by continuously testing in other channels, large and small. Karel: "Facebook is of course the biggest candidate to make it difficult for Google. We are already seeing that reflected in the fact that expenses are moving to this social channel, among other things."
“In addition, it is also up to Google to be careful not to dig its own grave,” Karel continues. “That adjustment of the SERP, for example, is quite rigorous and has an impact on companies. It is quite scary when you realize that an external factor like Google has such an enormous influence on an organization, but also on society as a whole. For Google itself, the impact (direct and indirect) will always be a consideration when implementing certain updates or not.”
Series 'Search engine marketing at…'
The Search committee of the DDMA focuses on promoting the field of search engine marketing in the Netherlands, through knowledge sharing and education. In the series 'Search engine marketing at…' we discuss the activities in the field of search engine marketing at organizations. Previously Nuon , Het Rode Kruis , UPC , Bol.com and OTTO were discussed.
Dominance in marketing
Bookit is known for websites such as Weekendjeweg.nl and Bungalows.nl. Karel has a long experience with SEA and did this himself for Bookit in the early years of SEA in the Netherlands. After that he was never able and willing to let it go and always interfered.
The dominance in SEA currently lies with Google and the fact that there is a dominant player in marketing is not strange to Bookit. In the 90s, within the leisure industry, it was the ANWB that was the dominant player. There were waiting times for advertisements in the Kampioen and the prices for full-page advertisements were around 45,000 guilders. The current situation is of course different. Much has changed in the past 20 years, but there is still a dominant player.
Bookit and Google
Google SearchThe relationship with Google is a love-hate relationship for Bookit. Karel talks about his experience with Google since the rise of SEA in 2002 and about how he sees the organic reach within Google getting smaller and smaller. The SERP is increasingly filled with paid results.
The recent changes to the SERP for desktop/laptop are another example of this. “Google sells this by saying that it can offer more relevance to the user, but in short, Google is a armenia telegram number list commercial organization that puts paid results at the top. Knowing that the user is a creature of habit and predominantly clicks on the top results,” says Karel.
On the other hand, Bookit realizes very well that it has to be visible in the paid results to generate traffic and not lose traffic to competitors. According to Karel, SEA (read Google) is a necessary evil and every advertiser has to deal with the rules that Google imposes on them. Karel would prefer to see more cooperation with Google to jointly bring the business goals for both organizations to a higher level.
So what is the future of Google?
Google will always exist, but Google's dominance will decrease. That is Karel's vision for the future. Bookit keeps a close eye on these developments and also responds to them by continuously testing in other channels, large and small. Karel: "Facebook is of course the biggest candidate to make it difficult for Google. We are already seeing that reflected in the fact that expenses are moving to this social channel, among other things."
“In addition, it is also up to Google to be careful not to dig its own grave,” Karel continues. “That adjustment of the SERP, for example, is quite rigorous and has an impact on companies. It is quite scary when you realize that an external factor like Google has such an enormous influence on an organization, but also on society as a whole. For Google itself, the impact (direct and indirect) will always be a consideration when implementing certain updates or not.”