The Google Things to Do Class for Tour and Activity Operators

I used to run this as a live class for operators. Same questions every time, same order, same three places where everyone got stuck. So I turned it into a free course you can work through at your own pace, and this post is the syllabus.

If you would rather just start, the whole thing lives at the Get Found Online course. There are two tracks — beginner if you are setting things up for the first time, advanced if you are technical and want the API-level detail. Same lessons, different depth.

Here is what each module covers and why it is in that position.

Module 1: Your Google Business Profile

Nothing else works until this is done. Your profile is how Google knows your business exists, and every listing, badge, and feed downstream is attached to it.

In this module: creating or claiming the profile, verifying it, choosing the primary category that puts you in the right searches, and filling in the fields that most operators skip. There is also a section on what to do when someone else has already claimed your business, which happens more than you would think.

Work through lesson one, then use the Google Business Profile hub for the detailed guides on photos, reviews, and booking links.

Where people get stuck: verification. If the postcard never arrives, request video verification instead.

Module 2: Your booking system and website

Google Things to Do sends travellers to a page where they can book. If that page is slow, unclear, or does not show a price, your listing gets rejected — or worse, it goes live and converts at nothing.

This module covers choosing a booking system that can hand a clean product page and a real-time price to Google, and what your product page needs to contain. Most modern booking platforms are fine. The problems come from custom pages, contact forms instead of checkouts, and prices that only appear after three clicks.

Lesson two covers the selection criteria. Then read the landing page criteria and the landing page guidelines — between them they explain every rejection reason I have seen.

Where people get stuck: the price on the landing page not matching the price in the feed. It has to match, including fees.

Module 3: SEO and structured data

This is the module the beginner track keeps short and the advanced track expands.

You are doing two things: making your pages findable in ordinary search, and making them machine-readable so Google, and increasingly AI answer engines, can parse what you sell. Titles, descriptions, local keywords, internal linking, and JSON-LD markup on every product page.

Lesson three has the walkthrough, plus a validation prompt you can paste into any AI assistant to audit your own markup. Our hands-on post on structured data markup for tour operators goes further if you want to do it this weekend.

Where people get stuck: marking up a price that JavaScript renders after load, so the crawler sees nothing.

Module 4: Distribution through Google Things to Do

Now the actual listing. Two routes exist: Google's own Tickets and Activities editor, or a connectivity partner who submits a feed on your behalf.

The editor is fine for a handful of products and gets you live quickly. A partner feed keeps availability and pricing synced automatically, supports the Official Site badge, and makes you eligible for the ads layer. You can start with one and move to the other — new listings replace the old ones.

This module also covers Google's eligibility rules, which catch people out. Transit services, movie tickets, one-off concerts and festivals, overnight stays, and virtual-only experiences are not allowed. Alcohol tastings, axe throwing, paintball, and recurring venue-based activities are allowed. If you are unsure where you fall, what is Google Things to Do lists the eligible categories.

Lesson four is the core of the course. Pair it with the title guidelines and image guidelines before you submit anything.

Where people get stuck: pricing policy. Your listed price must be the total an adult pays including all fees and taxes, in any currency, for a ticket available to everyone. Variable pricing means you show one representative price. Minimum group sizes mean you show the cost for one person to book.

Module 5: Linking Google Ads to your Things to Do account

Once your feed is live you can advertise against it, but only after your Actions Center account is linked to Google Ads. It is a short module and a fiddly process, which is why it gets its own lesson.

Lesson five has the click path. You will need your account number from us to complete it — email media@cheapfunthingstodo.com once you are signed up and we will send it.

Module 6: Launching your first campaign

The last module is the campaign itself: structure, bidding, what a realistic starting budget looks like, and which metrics to watch in the first two weeks.

Things to Do Ads are cost-per-click and they place your listing above the OTAs on your own search result. If you have been paying 25% commission on every OTA booking, the arithmetic here is worth doing carefully. Lesson six covers it, and the Google Things to Do Ads page explains the format.

How long it takes

A beginner working through it properly: about a week, an hour or two a day, with waiting time for profile verification. Someone technical who already has a booking system and a verified profile: an afternoon.

The course is free and there is nothing gated. If you want us to handle module four for you — the feed, the badge, keeping your inventory compliant — that is the $25 a month service, and signing up costs nothing. See how it works or the pricing page.

Start with lesson one. Everything else depends on it.