Overview

Reputation Management is only as good as the review sources you've connected. A team plugged into Airbnb and Booking.com but missing Google and Expedia is doing reputation half-blind.

This lesson is the integration playbook: what to connect, in what order, and what each connection adds to the inbox.

What "connected" means

Every review source falls into one of three connection types:

You usually want the highest-fidelity path available for each channel. Direct API beats PMS pass-through (more fields, faster sync, more reliable). PMS pass-through beats nothing. The browser extension fills in the gaps.

Recommended connection order

For a typical operation:

1. PMS — connects most of your existing review surface in one step

2. Direct Airbnb integration — adds host-to-guest review capability, richer review fields, and the listing quality view

3. Google Business Profile — opens the high-leverage channel for direct booking growth

4. Browser extension — covers Expedia and anything else your PMS doesn't pass through

You don't have to do all four on day one. But each one you skip is a hole in your reputation picture.

Direct Airbnb integration

If your PMS already syncs Airbnb reviews, you don't need the direct integration to see them in the inbox. But adding it unlocks:

• Higher-fidelity review fields (category ratings, original language, etc.)

• Host-to-guest review automation (Airbnb's mutual review system is API-driven; we need direct access to post on your behalf)

• The Listing Quality monitoring page (covered next lesson)

The connection is OAuth-based. Open Account → Integrations and click Connect Airbnb. Authorize. Done.

See Airbnb Official Integration for the step-by-step.

Google Business Profile

Google reviews live on Google Search and Google Maps. For direct-booking operations and any property whose guests find them via search, Google is often the highest-leverage review surface — and the one most teams are weakest on.

Setup:

1. Identify your Google Place ID for each property. The Find My Google Place ID guide walks through this.

2. Connect Google via OAuth from the integrations page.

3. Confirm your team has manager-or-higher access on each Google Business Profile you want to sync.

4. Verified test reviews appear in the inbox, with the Google channel filter usable.

Google reviews behave a bit differently from OTA reviews:

• Responses can be edited or deleted any time (more forgiving than OTAs)

• The flagging UI for removal is on Google's side, not in the host tools you're used to

• Volume tends to be lower per property but more impactful for search visibility

Pair Google with Feedback Requests (Pattern 1 from that lesson) to grow review volume meaningfully.

See Google Business Profile for the full integration guide.

The browser extension

Some OTAs — Expedia is the canonical example — don't expose reviews via an API path Sparrow Intel can use directly. The browser extension is the workaround: install it on the browsers your team uses, log in to the OTA as you normally would, and the extension syncs review content as you browse.

This is genuinely the right tool for the job — Expedia coverage of any kind beats no Expedia coverage, and a browser-extension approach handles the long tail of OTAs that don't justify a dedicated integration.

Setup:

1. Install the extension from the Chrome or Edge store (link in Browser Extension)

2. Sign in to Sparrow Intel through the extension

3. Visit your OTA host dashboard once; the extension syncs reviews

The extension is in beta and is the right answer if you have meaningful Expedia volume. It's not a substitute for API connections where those exist.

PMS pass-through specifics

Each PMS handles review pass-through slightly differently. Common patterns:

If your PMS isn't shown above or you're not sure what passes through, check the relevant PMS integration guide in the Getting Started collection, or ask via in-product chat.

Confirming coverage

After connecting your sources, do a one-time audit:

1. For each connected channel, filter the review inbox by that channel and confirm reviews are arriving

2. Pick one property and confirm every channel that property is listed on has reviews showing in Sparrow Intel

3. Pick one recent review on each channel and confirm the body, rating, and category ratings look right (vs. what you see on the OTA itself)

If a channel is missing reviews, work back through the connection: did the integration auth successfully? Is the property mapped? Has any review actually posted on that channel recently?

Up next

Listing Quality: Monitoring Airbnb Listing Health — if you've connected the direct Airbnb integration, the last lesson covers the upstream view that helps prevent the next batch of bad reviews from happening.

Related

• Google Business Profile

• Find My Google Place ID

• Airbnb Official Integration

• Sparrow Intel Browser Extension