In the US, Google's AI books the hotel. In Europe, Google pulls holiday rentals out of search

Since 27 August 2026, in the United States, anyone looking for a hotel in Google's AI Mode can book it without leaving the answer. They pick the room, read the cancellation terms and pay with Google Pay, all in one place. The final yes belongs to the person: the AI prepares it, the traveller approves the payment. Google had confirmed the test on 7 August for some users in the US, and opened it at the end of the month.

Who is in it

Booking launches with 10 partners: Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline and Trip.com on one side, Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Wyndham and Choice Hotels on the other. Online travel agencies and big chains.

There is no independent hotel on the list. Whoever books inside the answer, for now, books through an agency or a big chain.

In Europe the holiday rentals space is gone

On 23 July 2026 the European Commission fined Google 460 million euros for putting its own services first in search, hotels included. One of Google's answers came on 8 September: the holiday rentals space disappears from the results page for anyone searching from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. What counts is where people search from, not where the home is.

It was a space with no commission: the booking button took travellers to the page of whoever manages the home. The listings stay on Maps and on google.com/hotels, and people searching from elsewhere, from the US for example, still see them.

And hotels

Hotels still have a space, only a poorer one. For searches on flights, hotels and restaurants Google shows two spaces: one for agencies and booking sites, one for direct sellers. In the direct sellers' space it is no longer possible to filter by dates, see live prices or use tags such as "budget" or "boutique".

According to Skift, where relevant the changes also apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. When people searching in Italy or Spain will see all of them, Google has not said: Dataconomy reported as much on 9 September.

What changes if you rent out a home in Italy or Spain

Booking inside the AI has no date in Europe yet. What changed right away is search: for anyone renting out a holiday home, the commission-free space at the top of the results is gone.

The answer remains. Whoever asks the AI where to stay gets names, and those names do not go through a date filter: they come from what the AI has read. In the US that answer is already where people book. In Europe, for now, it is where people choose.

For anyone renting out a home or running a hotel in Italy or Spain, being named in the AI's answer matters more now than it did in July.