Hint Request Messages
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One way to implement your price feed is to use Changed Pricing (formerly Pull
with Hints).
The flow for this method is as follows:
Google sends a Hint Request message from the root element <HintRequest>
that contains time information from your most recent server update.
Your server responds with a Hint Response
message, <Hint>,
which contains a list of hotels prices that have changed since
the last update.
Google then responds with a
Query message: <Query>.
Your server responds with a
Transaction message,
<Transaction>, that includes the updated data.
For an overview of repricing, see Repricing
process.
Google sends a Hint Request message to your server at 5-minute intervals by
default. This frequency can be adjusted by setting contact us.
The request message is sent using an HTTP POST method with the Content-Type
header set to application/xml and the User-Agent header set to
Google-HotelAdsPrices. Ensure the endpoint status that Google sends back is OK by
contacting your Technical Account Manager (TAM). You should have configured this setting during your
Hotel Prices initial setup.
Hint Request example
Hint Request messages have a root element of
<HintRequest> and a single child element, <LastFetchTime>.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<HintRequest id="request" timestamp="2023-06-03T22:59:48Z">
<LastFetchTime>2023-06-03T22:54:40Z</LastFetchTime>
</HintRequest>
For more examples and additional information, refer to Query & Hints XML Reference.
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Last updated 2025-04-14 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-04-14 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle's Changed Pricing method allows you to update hotel prices efficiently by focusing on changes since the last update.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe process involves a Hint Request from Google, a Hint Response from your server with changed hotel IDs, a Query from Google, and a Transaction from your server with updated data.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle sends Hint Requests every 5 minutes, but this frequency can be adjusted by contacting Google support.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eHint Requests use HTTP POST with specific headers; ensure endpoint status is "OK" for successful communication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eHint Request messages contain the last fetch time, allowing your server to identify price changes since then.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Hint Request Messages\n\nOne way to implement your price feed is to use [Changed Pricing (formerly Pull\nwith Hints)](/hotels/hotel-prices/dev-guide/delivery-mode#hints).\n\nThe flow for this method is as follows:\n\n1. Google sends a Hint Request message from the root element [`\u003cHintRequest\u003e`](../xml-reference/queries#hintrequest)\n that contains time information from your most recent server update.\n\n2. Your server responds with a [Hint Response\n message](/hotels/hotel-prices/dev-guide/hint-response-messages), [`\u003cHint\u003e`](../xml-reference/queries#Hint),\n which contains a list of hotels prices that have changed since\n the last update.\n\n3. Google then responds with a\n [Query message](/hotels/hotel-prices/dev-guide/query-messages): [`\u003cQuery\u003e`](../xml-reference/queries#Query).\n\n4. Your server responds with a\n [Transaction message](/hotels/hotel-prices/dev-guide/transaction-overview),\n [`\u003cTransaction\u003e`](../xml-reference/transaction-messages#Transaction), that includes the updated data.\n\nFor an overview of repricing, see [Repricing\nprocess](/hotels/hotel-prices/dev-guide/updating-prices#repricing-process).\n\nGoogle sends a Hint Request message to your server at 5-minute intervals by\ndefault. This frequency can be adjusted by setting [contact us](https://support.google.com/hotelprices/gethelp).\n\nThe request message is sent using an HTTP `POST` method with the `Content-Type`\nheader set to `application/xml` and the `User-Agent` header set to\n`Google-HotelAdsPrices`. Ensure the endpoint status that Google sends back is `OK` by\ncontacting your Technical Account Manager (TAM). You should have configured this setting during your\nHotel Prices initial setup.\n\n### Hint Request example\n\nHint Request messages have a root element of\n[`\u003cHintRequest\u003e`](../xml-reference/queries#hintrequest) and a single child element, `\u003cLastFetchTime\u003e`. \n\n \u003c?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?\u003e\n \u003cHintRequest id=\"request\" timestamp=\"2023-06-03T22:59:48Z\"\u003e\n \u003cLastFetchTime\u003e\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003e2023-06-03T22:54:40Z\u003c/var\u003e\u003c/LastFetchTime\u003e\n \u003c/HintRequest\u003e\n\nFor more examples and additional information, refer to [Query \\& Hints XML Reference](../xml-reference/queries)."]]