The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether Booking.com complies with the obligations laid down in the Digital Services Act regarding the prevention of scams, fraud and advertising transparency. The investigation will examine whether the platform has properly identified and mitigated certain risks that may affect consumers, particularly in the area of online accommodation bookings.
The investigation launched by the Commission focuses on three main areas. First, it will assess whether Booking.com has correctly identified and evaluated the systemic risks arising from the presence of illegal content on the platform, including advertisements for non-existent accommodation, identity theft scams or offers that do not comply with applicable regulations. It will also examine whether the company has adopted effective measures to detect and remove this type of content.
Secondly, the Commission will analyse the risk posed by phishing scams targeting users of the platform. The investigation will examine, in particular, how booking and guest data are shared with accommodation providers, as well as the design and operation of Booking.com’s messaging system. The objective is to determine whether sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent the misuse of such data for fraudulent purposes or to request illegitimate payments from consumers.
The third area of the investigation is related to the advertising transparency obligations set out in the Digital Services Act. In this regard, the Commission will examine whether users can clearly identify when an accommodation provider has paid to appear prominently in search results. It will also verify whether the platform provides clear information about who is behind each advertisement, who has paid for it, why it is being shown to the user and how the parameters determining the advertisements displayed can be modified. In this way, the European Commission stresses that users must be able to distinguish between results that are relevant to their search and content that is promoted and displayed through paid placement.
Next steps
The European Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation and continue gathering information through additional requests for data, interviews or inspections. The opening of formal proceedings enables the Commission to adopt further enforcement measures, such as interim measures and non-compliance decisions, as well as to accept commitments offered by the platform. The institution has also specified that the opening of this investigation does not prejudge the final outcome of the proceedings.
Background
This decision follows a preliminary investigation based on the analysis of the risk assessment reports submitted by Booking.com in 2026 and previous years, the information included in its transparency reports and the responses provided by the company to various formal requests for information sent by the European Commission.
Booking.com was designated as a very large online platform under the European Union’s Digital Services Act on 25 April 2023. The Commission is cooperating in this supervision with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, which acts as the Digital Services Coordinator in the Member State where the company is established.
Source of information: European Commission.