Operto: Third-Party Ad Bidding on Hotel Names Is Diverting Direct Bookings

Hotels that rely on direct bookings may be losing guests to third-party sellers that bid on their own brand names in paid search, according to new research from hospitality technology company Operto.

Operto studied advertising over 31 days, from 22 May to 21 June 2026, using the Google Ads Transparency Center. It identified about 1.1 million ads targeting searches for roughly 204,000 hotels. The advertisers, which Operto calls "predatory OTAs", bid on individual property names without any direct contract with the accommodation provider. Their inventory comes from bed banks and affiliate networks.

Key findings

• Nine domains accounted for all the advertising activity Operto identified.
• GuestReservations.com was responsible for close to half of it. The other eight domains are not named in the report coverage.
• Operto reviewed 232 Better Business Bureau complaints against the company; 38 per cent came from guests who believed they had booked directly with the hotel.

Tim Major, CEO of Operto, said: "Hotels need to understand who is advertising against their brand," as well as how much direct demand may be leaking through those channels and what that costs.

The findings come from a vendor study and the full report is available through Operto. The methodology and conclusions have not been independently verified.