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Trivago Class Action

The Claim

Piper Alderman are investigating a class action against Trivago NG (Trivago), on behalf of people who booked accommodation using Trivago’s website from 1 July 2017 to 13 September 2019 (the relevant period).

On 20 January 2020, the Federal Court of Australia held Trivago knowingly engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations contravening the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).[1] The following false or misleading representations were alleged (the representations):

Trivago website would quickly and easily identify the cheapest rates available for a hotel room responding to a consumer’s search (the Cheapest Price Representation);
Top Position offers were the cheapest available offers for an identified hotel, or had some other characteristic which made them more attractive than any other offer for that hotel (the Top Position Representation);
Strike-through price was a comparison between prices offered for the same room category in the same hotel (the Strike-through Representation); and
Red price was a comparison between prices offered for the same room category in the same hotel (Red Price Representation).

In relation to the Top Position Offer, this was not determined by Trivago solely based on the price of the hotel. Rather Trivago’s algorithm selected the Top Position Offer based on a variety of factors including the revenue that Trivago would earn (via costs per click (CPC)) by displaying the relevant offer on the initial search results page. Trivago’s algorithm placed significant value on the Online Booking Sites cost per click bid.

In the ACCC proceeding, it was established that Trivago made each of the above representations. Trivago also admitted that it engaged in contraventions of s 18 of the ACL in relation to the Cheapest Price Representation and the Strike-through Representation.

Due to the representations made by Trivago, customers were at times promoted more expensive hotels over alternative cheaper hotels. It is estimated that during the period the representations were made, Trivago generated $92 million in revenue, with the estimated cost to consumers as a result of paying more for their accommodation being at least $30 million.

On 22 April 2022, the Federal Court ordered Trivago to pay $44.7 million in pecuniary penalties.

Am I eligible?

You may be eligible as a group member in the anticipated class action if you:

booked accommodation through Trivago; and
that booking was made between 1 July 2017 and 13 September 2019.

If you are unsure if you are eligible, please contact us at +61 2 9253 3819 or [email protected].

Registering your details

If the above is you, we invite you to register for the anticipated class action by providing your details below.