This has been an exciting month for Hotel Price Ads advertisers, with mobile traffic up about 45% (according to our calculations.)

In late February, we called out a new mobile result type that appeared when searching for “hotels in…” queries. At the time it appeared to be a limited test of a totally new way for Google to show rich hotel results on mobile devices.

For the last 30 days or so, we’ve been tracking a notable increase in traffic from this placement. What used to only deliver a handful of clicks per day to even large advertisers is now driving up to 10x the volume.

As a result, total mobile traffic from Hotel Price Ads is up about 45% since the change.

There has also been a substantial shift in the composition of mobile traffic. Previous to the most recent updates, mobile traffic came primarily from Hotel Finder on Mobile. It appears most mobile traffic is now coming through Local Universal:

This appears an effect of the new result format replacing the previous mobile Hotel Price Ads commercial unit, which drove traffic directly to the mobile version of Hotel Finder.

What it means for advertisers

Not all advertisers yet meet the requirements to launch mobile Hotel Price Ads campaigns, so competition is currently much lower for mobile traffic than for desktop traffic. This results in lower CPC costs that help boost mobile campaign ROI.

For those advertisers whose mobile conversion rate is lagging as a result of an unoptimized user experience, the observed and expected growth in this channel is yet another reason to push those improvements live.

Finally, for advertisers currently running mobile HPA campaigns right now is a great time to log in, review performance, make sure that everything is performing to expectations, and confirm that bids are set appropriately. Be sure to pay special attention to those Mobile and Local Universal multipliers.

The continued focus on improving and growing Hotel Finder on both mobile and desktop is a clear indicator of what’s to come here. Those advertisers that can catch and respond to market changes quickly and efficiently will get the most out of riding the wave.