Google+ is not incredibly popular among brands and users. A recent report found that only 35% of the social platform’s 1.15 billion users are active. And L2’s Intelligence Report: Social Platforms found that only 66% percent of brands are present on Google+, fewer than on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.
For travel brands, however, presence on Google+ is important because of Google Carousel. The number of reviews and ratings on a brand’s Google+ pages are among the top five factors that correlate to a high ranking on Google search and Google Local Carousel. Quantity of citations and number of +1’s are others.
Prestige Hotel brands have recognized the influence of Google+ and adapted their strategy. L2’s Digital IQ Index®: Prestige Hotels finds the percentage of brands with global and property-specific presences on Google+ increased by 45% between 2012 and 2013, from 21% to 66%. The percentage of brands with just a global presence decreased by 11% and the percentage of brands without any presence on Google+ decreased from 33% to 3% in that time frame.
