About Google Things to do

Google Things to do helps travellers discover attraction tickets, tours and activities right on Google: in Search and Maps. By listing your products with Google, you can reach a wider audience of travellers who are looking for things to do in their destination, and drive more direct bookings. Listing products on most Google Things to do surfaces is free for operators, but it is also possible to reach additional audiences through paid dynamic Things to do campaigns with Google Ads.

At the moment Things to Do listings may appear on the following Google surfaces (also known as modules):

Admissions. This module is designed to show users information about basic admission tickets to various attraction points of interest (such as Museums, Theme Parks, Observation Decks, etc.) and provide an easy way to view and compare booking options from various providers, including official website as well as resellers. This surface is often displayed below the general information about the point of interest in search for queries related to point of interest, point of interest tickets, etc. See Admission section in "360 Chicago tickets" example below.

Experiences module is designed to surface various guided tours and other things to do related to specific points of interest. It is often displayed below Admissions on point of interest queries as well as on Maps. Experiences listings typically contain an image as well as more content about the product overall. Google often displays these listings along with the various filters to help users narrow down most appropriate listings.

Operator Bookings. This new surface provides a way for operators to display products on their own Google Business Profile entry, regardless of their related points of interest. Note that alongside your own products, product listings submitted with your Google Business Profile name by various resellers may be displayed as well. How products are displayed varies, but operators report listings similar to Experiences module appearing on their Google Business Listing, or just below it in the search results.

Ads. In addition to free listings on the above 3 surfaces, you may also take advantage of paid dynamic Things to do campaigns by linking your listings to your Google Ads account. Doing this will allow you to bid for things to do specific ad placements that appear when a traveler searches for tours, activities, or local attractions. The ads often appear above the search results or elsewhere on the page. Note Ventrata doesn't manage Google Ads campaigns for clients, but will assist you in linking your products to your own Google Ads account.

Eligibility for your products to appear on these surfaces will be determined by Google based on your product content.



While select eligible operators may have the ability to manage Things to Do listings manually via Google Business Profile account, Google recommends setting up a connection with one of the approved reservation/ticketing systems (like Ventrata) to guarantee data accuracy, automated content updates and to get most out of Google Things to do. For listings visibility, it is important that data submitted to Google exactly matches what is shown on your checkout, therefore a connection directly to your ticketing system is recommended over manual data entry or using third-party content management software. To learn more, visit Introducing Things to do on Google

Connection Capabilities

Unlike a traditional reseller connection, Google Things to do does not pull your product availability and pricing information from Ventrata in real-time or make bookings via API. Instead, Ventrata regularly (every few hours) submits the up-to-date information about your available products to Google, including the checkout URLs. Google displays this information on various surfaces and directs customer to Ventrata-provided checkout page to book.

Google Things to do supports:
Content. Ventrata will regularly submit the information about your products to Google, including product name, description, gallery images, duration, inclusions, exclusions, highlights, options, pricing, itinerary categories and items, operators, checkout URL, etc.
Pricing. Google will direct customers to your checkout page to complete the purchase, therefore your checkout pricing will apply.
Booking. Google will direct customers to your checkout page to complete the purchase, therefore booking will appear as checkout booking in Ventrata. It is possible to also attribute it to Google by creating Google Things to do as a Reseller as linking it to the Connection. See Setting up the Connection below.

Setting up the Connection

Create Google Things to do Reseller in Ventrata. While this is not required, we recommend you create Google Things to do as a Reseller in your Ventrata system. This will enable you to track bookings referred from Google Things to do right in your Ventrata Dashboard. If you do not plan to run paid Things to Do Ads with Google and only take advantage free surfaces, you can simply setup the reseller to 0% commission. Whitelisting/blacklisting destinations or products on the Reseller is also a good way to manage which products you want to appear on Google Things to do.
Create a Connection in Ventrata. In your Ventrata Dashboard, go to Connections > Connections, then click + New Connection and select Google Things to do from the list of available options. Set the connection Name, select the Reseller created in Step 1 (optional), select the Web Checkout you would like Google Things to do to link to, and click Create Connection. If necessary, you may also whitelist/blacklist destinations or products you wish to be enabled for Google Things to do on the connection level.
Ensure your Products enabled for the connection meet requirements. Google has strict requirements to your products' content for them to get approved to be shown on various surfaces. Ventrata<>Google integration is built to support these requirements as long as your products meet the requirements below.
(Optional) Setting up Paid TTD Google Ads (Optional). If you plan to also run paid Things to Do campaigns with Google Ads in addition to free listings, see Setting up Paid TTD Google Ads below for additional instructions.

Product Requirements

Product > Name & Description. Your product in Ventrata must have a name and long description. Products without name or description are automatically rejected by Google for most surfaces. You can manage these fields in Ventrata for each product under Products > Products. Long Description field can be found on the bottom section of the page. See Google's Title and description guidelines for best practices.
Product > Inclusions, Exclusions, Highlights. We recommend having at least 1-2 items listed in your Ventrata Product Inclusions, Exclusions and Highlights as this information in necessary for select surfaces. You can manage these fields in Ventrata for each product under Products > Products, at the bottom of the product settings page.
Product > Gallery Images. Your product must have at least one image uploaded in the Gallery Images sections. This is required for select surfaces, including Experiences and Ads. We recommend upload a few images. Please see Google's Image and photography guidelines for best practices.
Itinerary > Categories. Your Product must have an Itinerary linked to it with Categories & Itinerary Items (Points of Interest) defined. To create new or manage existing itineraries, go to Products > Itineraries. Your Itinerary must have Categories defined as Google will use this information to determine your eligibility for various surfaces. Please select all categories that apply. We strongly recommend you select "Guided Tours" and/or "Self-Guided" here as Google uses these two as one of the a key factors to determine whether your product should display on Experiences and Admissions surfaces.
Itinerary > Itinerary Items. Your Itinerary must also have Itinerary Items defined. Itinerary items with "Point of Interest" purpose will be submitted to Google as Points of Interest related to the product, which Google then uses to determine locations where your product could be displayed. Create as many applicable Point of Interest Itinerary items as possible and be sure to set their Address, Purpose and if check Admission Allowed where applicable. If you are using Ventrata itineraries only for Google Things to do, you can leave all other Itinerary fields blank, and not worry about setting Itinerary Items of "Starting Point", "Ending Point" or "Event Purpose" as this information is not used for Google Things to do. Don't forget to link your itinerary to applicable product(s). This can be done by updating setting for individual products under Products > Products or for multiple ones via Bulk Actions.
Supplier > Address. Your Ventrata supplier address must match your Google Business Listing as Google uses this information to determine which Business Listing(s) to show your products as a part of the Operator Bookings surface. Be sure to update your address under Supplier Settings > Supplier Settings and select your Google Business Listing address as populated based on Google Maps data. If necessary, it is possible to have different Google Business Listing addresses set for specific Destinations, Operators or Products. Just update the Address fields on Destination, Operator or Product in Ventrata and this will overwrite the address set on the most specific level. Note: If you have Service Area type Google Business Listing (i.e. it has no address listed on it, but just a service area where you operate), this location may not appear on Address dropdown due to Google Maps limitations. Please contact Ventrata Support for assistance with setting up such address.

Setting up Paid TTD Google Ads (Optional)

If in addition to free listings on Admissions, Experiences and Operator Bookings surfaces, you are interested in also running paid Things to Do Good Ads using our Ventrata products, please follow the steps below:

Link your Google Ads account to Ventrata. In your Google Ads account, click the Admin icon. Then, click Linked accounts. In the “From Google" section, select Things to do Center from the list and enter the Ventrata account ID 516034978 to indicate you'd like to establish connection with Ventrata. Once this is done, please contact Ventrata Support asking to approve Google Things to Do linking.
Configure your Campaigns in Google Ads. Follow the "2. Set up the TTD Ads Campaign" steps in Google's Implementation Guide. The Product IDs you will need for the campaign setup can be found on the Google Things To Do connection page in your Ventrata system (note these differ from your regular Products IDs). If you don't have in-house marketing team, we suggest working with the marketing agency on your Google Ads set up for best results. If you have any questions about Google TTD Paid Ads setup, please contact ttd-support@google.com and cc: connectivity@ventrata.com.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
I created the connection, but still cannot my products anywhere on Google.	Please check to make sure your product are setup in line with all Product Requirements. These cover most common issues resulting in products getting rejected by Google. If the issue persists, contact connectivity@ventrata.com to request Google report for your products.
I would like Google to use my custom checkout URL or landing page instead of Ventrata checkout	You can overwrite the URLs Ventrata submits to Google by setting Google Landing Page URL and Google Landing Page List View URL values in your Ventrata products settings. Note your landing page has to have product content from Ventrata and be in line with Google's policies and landing page guidelines.
I cannot find my Google Business Location on Address dropdown in Ventrata.	Make sure you have your business listing on Google. If you have Service Area type Google Business Listing (i.e. it has no address listed on it, but just a service area where you operate), this location may not appear on Address dropdown due to Google Maps limitations. Please contact Ventrata Support for assistance with setting up such address.
My Google My Business listing is showing TTD products that I haven't configured in Ventrata and/or showing my products different to what I have configured in Ventrata.	Check your Google My Business account and ensure you don't have any products set up manually there (Google may show these on TTD surfaces as well). Please also check you don't submit products using any other provider (e.g. Livn, Magpie Travel, etc.)

Experiencing other issues? Reach out to Ventrata Support.

Updated on: 12/01/2024