Booking is under the spotlight of Brussels. The European Commission has opened an investigation to determine if the platform violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) in assessing and mitigating risks associated with fraudulent ads and phishing scams. «Booking is not doing enough to prevent online fraud and scams,» warns the EU’s Digital Sovereignty spokesperson, Thomas Regnier. According to the explanation, 66% of hotel reservations made online in the European Union are processed through Booking, «while complaints of fraud have increased by 500% between 2022 and 2024». The fraud reached a value of 4.200 billion euros during that period. Regnier also expressed Brussels’ concern about the protection of personal and business data. «We are concerned that Booking is not adequately protecting both the data of companies and private users, which includes names, phone numbers, and email addresses,» stated. Brussels will also investigate if Booking. El texto informó a los usuarios de manera clara cuando un alojamiento paga para obtener visibilidad en los resultados de búsqueda. The regulation requires that ads can be recognized as such and that information is provided about who pays for them and why they are shown. The research will focus on three areas: false or irregular accommodation ads; phishing scams that could exploit reservation and guest data; and identifying ads promoted through payments. In the first area, the Commission will analyze whether the platform adequately assessed the risk of false or irregular accommodations being advertised and whether effective measures were taken to remove those publications. Among the issues identified are non-existent properties and identity fraud, practices that can leave travelers with a reservation that does not match what is offered. Brussels will also review how reservation data is shared with accommodations and the role of the platform’s messaging system.
Booking is under the spotlight of Brussels. The European Commission has opened an investigation to determine if the platform violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) in assessing and mitigating risks associated with fraudulent ads and phishing scams. «Booking is not doing enough to prevent online fraud and scams,» warns the EU’s Digital Sovereignty spokesperson, Thomas Regnier. According to the explanation, 66% of hotel reservations made online in the European Union are processed through Booking, «while complaints of fraud have increased by 500% between 2022 and 2024». The fraud reached a value of 4.200 billion euros during that period. Regnier also expressed Brussels’ concern about the protection of personal and business data. «We are concerned that Booking is not adequately protecting both the data of companies and private users, which includes names, phone numbers, and email addresses,» stated. Brussels will also investigate if Booking. El texto informó a los usuarios de manera clara cuando un alojamiento paga para obtener visibilidad en los resultados de búsqueda. The regulation requires that ads can be recognized as such and that information is provided about who pays for them and why they are shown. The research will focus on three areas: false or irregular accommodation ads; phishing scams that could exploit reservation and guest data; and identifying ads promoted through payments. In the first area, the Commission will analyze whether the platform adequately assessed the risk of false or irregular accommodations being advertised and whether effective measures were taken to remove those publications. Among the issues identified are non-existent properties and identity fraud, practices that can leave travelers with a reservation that does not match what is offered. Brussels will also review how reservation data is shared with accommodations and the role of the platform’s messaging system.
