# Participation requirements To offer a superior user experience and to protect user trust, we've documented the criteria for partners to participate in Google's transport features. Review the details in the next sections. If you meet the criteria to participate, follow the instructions in the [Contact](https://developers.google.com/travel/transport/guides/partner-integration/participation-requirements#contact) section. ## Qualify to participate in Google's transport features ### Business requirements To participate in Google's transport features, partners must: 1. Have a stable and recognized brand, and a history of successful transport ticket purchases. 2. Sell ground transport tickets and take responsibility for post-purchase customer service. 3. Serve users a landing webpage containing the itinerary details and, when shown, the final price that they selected on Google. 1. Not show one price to the user on your landing page, then book their itinerary at another price. 2. Make all upsells opt-in, and not add automatic upsells or additional fees like travel insurance. 3. Disclose all payment charges, convenience fees, credit card fees, etc. in the data they share with Google. 4. Verify the price / availability before loading the landing page, and not change the price of an itinerary at any point during the checkout flow unless the user intentionally adds on a cost. 4. Finalize transactions within 24 hours of sending the first booking confirmation to the user and keep the rate of rejected transactions at \<1%. 5. Accept major, globally valid payment methods like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and local credit or debit cards. 6. Offer a localized digital experience in the countries they want to serve. This includes: 1. Localized languages, currencies, and domains 2. Customer service telephone numbers (preferably in the local language) to support users 3. A local point of sale (POS) ### Technical requirements To participate in Google's transport features, partners must: 1. Implement or provide a mechanism to link to their website / apps so users can book their pre-selected itineraries without selecting it twice. For more details, refer to the [Google Transit ticketing extension specifications](https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs/reference/google-transit-ticketing-extension) and the [stop-only integration version](https://developers.google.com/travel/transport/guides/partner-integration/stop-only-integration#ticketing_deep_links). 2. Show users the freshest possible price for the selected itinerary on their landing page (i.e. implement a live pricing check on their landing page). 3. Allow Google to monitor price accuracy on an ongoing basis with crawlers. Google's crawlers will sample up to 5,000 itineraries per day. 4. Have high data quality. The two metrics Google uses are: 1. At least 95% link success rate 2. At least 90% price accuracy 5. Have the technical capability to integrate with one of the offered integration methods. 6. Define a turnaround time to investigate issues that Google reports. In addition to these Business and Technical requirements, the partner must provide Google with a technical point of contact who can lead the integration. ## Integrate with Google's transport features ### Standard API With the standard API integration, Google's transport features queries your API to fetch available itineraries, prices, and related data. This data can be cached or served live to Google users. For this integration method we require the implementation of our [standard API specifications](https://developers.google.com/travel/transport/guides/partner-integration/getting-started) including the support for ticketing deep links. ## Ongoing monitoring The criteria to participate in Google's transport features helps to provide a better user experience and protect user trust. Google will manually and automatically monitor and audit a partner's compliance with these requirements on a regular basis. If monitoring or auditing discloses noncompliance, appropriate immediate corrective action measures will be implemented, up to and including temporary or permanent suspension from Google's transport features as described later. ## Payment / credit card fees charged by partners This applies if partners charge customers any payment / credit card / convenience / ticketing fee that is added in the Payment step on the partner website / app: for users coming from Google, such fees should be included in the partner's fare calculation in their feed / API response. Google will show users prices inclusive of such fees on the landing page. Partners should include such fees in the price they show to users on their landing page. This eliminates any possible confusion in the users' minds due to price changes, and helps improve conversion rates for partners. ## Suspension from Google's transport features Google may, at its sole discretion, decide to suspend a partner's content (partially or completely) from Google's transport features for any of the following reasons: 1. Low quality of links 2. Low price accuracy 3. Failure to meet Google's participation criteria as outlined earlier 4. Evidence of a poor, deceptive, or harmful experience based on user feedback (via either Google's own channels or public ones) or otherwise 5. Failure to implement priced links by the communicated deadline 6. Provision of content that does not comply with applicable law or regulation 7. Other conduct or data issues that frustrate the purposes of Google's transport features or its ability to operate in a reasonable manner In such cases, Google will notify the partner using email. When the impact is limited, Google will give the partner a chance to rectify the situation before suspending them from Google's transport features. If a partner disagrees with the decision, they may provide additional information to support their case and request a review. Once a partner is suspended, they can re-engage with Google's transport features for re-approval when they're confident that they meet the participation criteria. Google may, at its sole discretion, terminate a partner's participation in Google's transport features. Where required by law, Google will provide 30 days notice prior to termination, except where immediate termination is permitted, such as in the event of repeated policy violations. ## Requirements for expanding to additional countries The partner and Google may mutually agree to limit initial participation in Google's transport features to a few countries in order to meet the participation criteria. If a partner wants to expand to another country, and they meet the criteria to participate in that country, Google, at its sole discretion, will work with the partner to validate and launch. ## Contact Review all of the details. If you meet the participation criteria or have a question or complaint, please reach out to us by sending an email to \. If you are a business user based in the EU or the UK, you may apply to resolve a dispute under your agreement with Google's transport features with mediation, find more details about the mediators we're willing to engage with and instructions about how to request [mediation](http://g.co/help/mediation). Except as required by applicable law, mediation is voluntary and neither you nor Google are obliged to settle disputes through mediation. ## FAQ > [!IMPORTANT] > **Question:** How does Google rank transport features booking links? The Google link-ranking algorithm for transport features takes into account a few factors with different weights, like: - The price offered by the partner (and whether the link includes a price). - Link type and quality, with a consideration for shallow versus deep links. - The user shouldn't have to select the itinerary again on the partner's website. - Whether the link leads to a site optimized for the user's device (e.g., a mobile-friendly site). Keep these factors in mind about link ranking: - The link-ranking algorithm is dynamic and constantly evolving. It adapts to factors like user preferences, so the rank of an individual link may change. - Big price differences matter more than small differences. - Ties in price are resolved randomly. However, ranks remain consistent in the same user session, so options don't jump around when a user refreshes the page.