‚¬1.1 Fine Imposed On Google For Misleading Hotel Rankings

Article written by Haim Ravia, Dotan Hammer and Adi Shoval

The French competition and consumer authority (the DGCCRF) imposed a €1.1 fine on Google for using its algorithm to rate hotels in a way that had misled consumers.

The DGCCRF initiated an investigation against Google after receiving complaints from hotels who claimed that Google's method for hotel ranking, which uses a five-star system, was misleading because consumers were likely to believe this is Atout France's ranking system for hotels, the industry-wide hotel ranking method used in France.

The DGCCRF found Google's practice to be detrimental to consumers who were misled about the level of service they could expect when booking a hotel, as well as to hotels whose ranking under Google's classification was lower than their Atout France ranking. In addition to the fine, Google was also required to change its hotel rating system.