ACCC declares victory after Federal Court rules Trivago misled consumers

guest · Jan 20, 2020

ACCC declares victory after Federal Court rules Trivago misled consumers
January 20, 2020
https://www.zdnet.com/article/accc-...federal-court-rules-trivago-misled-consumers/

The Federal Court has found that Trivago breached the Australian Consumer Law after misleading consumers about hotel room rates on both its website and television advertisements.

According to the Australian Competition Commission (ACCC), the court ruled that from at least December 2016, Trivago has been using an algorithm to place "significant weight" on hotel booking sites that paid Trivago the highest cost-per-click fee, and therefore did not often present the cheapest rates to consumers.

"Trivago's hotel room rate rankings were based primarily on which online hotel booking sites were willing to pay Trivago the most," ACCC chair Rod Sims said.
The consumer watchdog kicked off court proceedings in the Federal Court against Trivago in August 2018.
At the time, Trivago told ZDNet that it would defend the action taken by the ACCC.
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guest · Nov 4, 2020

Trivago loses appeal after misleading Australian consumers over cheap hotel deals
November 4, 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...g-australian-consumers-over-cheap-hotel-deals

Travel booking website Trivago has failed to appeal a federal court ruling it misled Australian consumers about cheap hotel deals in its TV advertising and on its website.

Trivago aggregates prices from other booking sites such as Expedia, as well as hotel websites, with the supposed aim of finding the best deal for would-be travellers and holidaymakers.

“Contrary to the impression created by the relevant conduct, the Trivago website did not provide an impartial, objective and transparent price comparison service,” Moshinsky said.
“The fact that Trivago was being paid by the online booking sites was not made clear,” he wrote in his judgment.
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ACCC chair Rod Sims said the win sent a warning to price comparison sites about misleading consumers with the results recommendations.

“We brought this case because we were concerned that consumers were being misled by Trivago’s claims that their site was getting the best deal for consumers, when in fact they were shown the deals that benefited Trivago,” Sims said in a statement.
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ACCC declares victory after Federal Court rules Trivago misled consumers

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