Understanding where and how your sponsored ad appears helps you set realistic expectations and troubleshoot delivery questions. This article explains ad placement, labeling, and what influences visibility.
Where Sponsored Listings appear
Your ad runs across all three Booking Holdings publishers under one campaign. Here is exactly where it appears on each site:
Publisher | Label | Slots |
Booking.com | "Ad" | #2, #4, and #6 |
Agoda | "Promoted" | up to 8 placements, positions can appear between slot 1 and slot 15 |
Priceline | "Promoted" | desktop: #1 and #5 mobile: #2 and #5 |
The sponsored listing uses your organic listing on each site. Travelers see your property name, photos, price, and rating. No separate setup is needed per publisher.
How to identify your ad in search results
Search for your hotel in the market you're advertising in:
On Booking.com, look for the "Ad" badge next to your property name.
On Priceline or Agoda, look for the "Promoted" label.
⚠️ You won't see your ad on every search - this is expected. The auction is real-time and competitive. Your ad may not win every auction, or your daily budget may already be spent for that period. The absence of your ad in one search does not mean your campaign is not working.
How to confirm your ads are running
The most reliable way to verify delivery is your dashboard. Not a manual search:
Go to Overview or Reporting in the left navigation bar.
Check for Impressions and Clicks. If these numbers are increasing over time, your ads are being shown and clicked.
Filter by the date range you're checking to confirm recent activity.
Why your ad might not appear when you search
Someone outbid you. A competitor's bid was higher for that search.
Budget exhausted. Your campaign spent its budget; it will resume when you add funds (or the next day for a daily budget type).
Targeting rules excluded the search. Your campaign may be set to only show to certain traveler types, countries, or stay lengths, and your search didn't match.
Your hotel ranks #1 organically. The system will avoid showing the same property twice when the organic result is already at the top.
The new campaign is still activating. Campaigns can take a few minutes to a few hours to move from Pending to Active after creation.
Improving ad visibility
Adjust your targeting and bid strategy to win more auctions in your market.
Use Competitive Insights to compare your CPC and Share of Shelf against the market average.
Ensure your account is funded. Even a brief zero balance stops all ad delivery.
Switch to daily budget pacing with ASAP to maximize opportunities throughout each day.
Also see: Why Is My Campaign Not Spending? if impressions are zero, and you want a full diagnostic checklist.
Need help?
Our team is here to help. Reach out via Live Chat 💬 in the platform, email us at booking.sponsoredlistings@koddi.com, or browse the Help Center for additional guides and resources.