This is the latest in a monthly series detailing developments in
competition and consumer law in Australia, including the activities
of Australia's competition and consumer regulator, the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC), published judgments, recently issued
proceedings and any relevant changes in the law.
This article covers events which occurred in December 2019 and
January 2020. The previous November 2019 update is available
here.
JUDGEMENTS
Trivago found to have misled consumers about hotel
rates
Justice Moshinsky in the Federal Court has found that Trivago
breached the Australian Consumer Law
(ACL) by representing that its website helped
consumers identify the cheapest available rates for a given hotel.
The Court found that this was misleading or deceptive because
Trivago's website showed search results based on an algorithm
that was weighted towards hotel booking sites that paid Trivago the
highest commissions, meaning that the
