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Europe: The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Booking.com over its handling of fraudulent accommodation listings, phishing scams and paid search placements.
The investigation will determine whether the online travel platform breached the Digital Services Act by failing to assess or effectively reduce risks connected with scams.
Regulators will examine fake listings for non-existent properties, accommodation offers that do not comply with relevant requirements and cases in which fraudsters impersonate legitimate properties.
The Commission will also assess phishing scams involving reservation and guest information, including how Booking.com shares data with accommodation providers and the protections surrounding its messaging services.
A further part of the investigation concerns properties paying to appear more prominently in search results. The Commission will consider whether Booking.com makes it sufficiently clear when a listing’s position has been boosted through advertising, rather than determined solely by its relevance to the traveller’s search.
Booking.com said it was cooperating fully with the investigation and remained committed to working with regulators, law enforcement agencies and industry partners to protect travellers and accommodation providers.
The company was designated a very large online platform under the Digital Services Act in April 2023, placing it under the legislation’s stricter requirements for assessing and mitigating risks affecting users.
The Commission reviewed Booking.com’s risk assessments from 2023 to 2026, its transparency reports and information supplied in response to regulatory requests before opening the proceedings.
No decision has yet been made on whether Booking.com breached the legislation. The Commission can continue gathering evidence, introduce interim measures or accept commitments from the company intended to address its concerns.
If the platform is ultimately found to have breached the Digital Services Act, it could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual worldwide turnover.
The investigation has implications for property managers because it covers the security of guest communications and the way accommodation businesses gain paid visibility on one of Europe’s largest booking platforms.
Highlights
- The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Booking.com.
- The investigation covers fraudulent and non-compliant accommodation listings.
- Regulators will examine phishing scams involving guest and reservation data.
- The Commission is investigating whether paid search placements are clearly labelled.
- Booking.com said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
- No finding of a Digital Services Act breach has yet been made.
- DSA violations can result in fines of up to six per cent of global annual turnover.
