Web settings for PMS brands

Each brand that has been set up in the PMS needs to have web settings, which are important for privacy and data processing consent as well as online marketing and tracking through BEX CMS and your checkout portal. These settings are linked to brands to enable the use of multiple brands and sets of marketing data on a single CMS site.

In the 'Brands' page, click the ellipsis button for the relevant brand, and select 'Web settings'.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is used for cookies and website analytics. However, the basic GTM mode may be blocked by ad blockers or the privacy settings of browsers. Server-side tagging and First-party mode are ways to implement GTM that minimize or avoid the risk of your marketing efforts being blocked.

Basic
All you need to enter is your GTM key. You find your key by logging in to your GTM account, and look at the so-called container ID in the top right. It is 'GTM-' followed by letters and numbers.

Server-side tagging
Essentially, this means you bypass ad blockers by putting an additional server in between GTM and your website. This does mean you will have to enter and manage a tagging server here, in addition to your GTM key.

First-party mode
When using this mode, you also use an additional server, but this is managed by Google itself. This does mean that it is optimized for Google services. Once again, all you need to enter is your GTM key.

Google Maps

Optionally, you can enter a Google Maps API key for this brand. This key is then applied where needed within a CMS website using this brand, for instance in a Google Maps widget. You can use the Booking Experts key (ask support for help), or create your own Google Maps API key.

How to get your own Google Maps API key

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console and log in using your business Google account. Accept the terms of service if requested.

  2. In the left menu, click 'APIs & Services'.

  3. Create a project from the dashboard page.

  4. Give the project a name that reflects its purpose, e.g. “Maps api for domain name”. Click 'Create'.

  5. In the project search bar, type 'maps' to find and add two APIs from the Marketplace results: Maps Embed API and Maps JavaScript API.

  6. Enable both APIs.

  7. Navigate to the 'Credentials' tab, and click 'Create credentials'.

  8. Select 'API Key'.

  9. Copy the API Key that is now shown, and paste it into the appropriate PMS brand settings.

  10. Next, click 'Restrict key'. By restricting your API key, you can prevent others from using your API, even if they have your key.

  11. At Application restrictions, select HTTP references (websites).

    Enter your own website(s) as well as [.bookingexperts.com] as accepted websites. NOTE: If you have a multilingual website, you must enter all domains (.de, .com, .fr, etc.).

  12. Also add API Restrictions: Restrict the key for the Maps Embed API and Maps Javascript API.

  13. Save the changes.

Ensure an invoicing account is connected

To actually use the Google Maps API, the project created above must be linked to an approved invoicing account within the Google Cloud Console. Check this under Google Cloud Console’s invoicing settings.

Privacy

Each brand should have a privacy and cookie policy page, listing all the data processing partners and cookies, including those placed by GTM. This page will be available through the cookie banner and footer on your websites.

Standard
The text of the privacy and cookie policy is a standard text, on an automatically generated webpage, which is linked to your brand. This page will also list all data processors your website uses, and why, including links to their own privacy statements.
You can use the 'Deviate from standard text' option to enter your own policy text. The button 'Manage connected data processors' allows you to see which data processors are listed in your policy, and hide those that aren’t used anymore.

Custom
Here, you can connect a privacy and cookie policy page that you made yourself. This can also be a PDF available in the browser.

Consent management

The privacy settings are where you share your privacy and cookie policy, and under consent management you decide how you track and apply the level of consent that your website visitors have chosen.

Default setup
The default is to use the cookie consent wall by Google. You can still edit the general explanation about cookies (include a link to your privacy page) and choose which buttons you want to provide.

Manual setup
With this option, you’ll have to create your own consent mode in Google Tag Manager.