The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into Booking.com to determine whether the travel site is taking sufficient measures to tackle phishing attacks and fraudulent advertisements.
The investigation focuses on allegations that the company has underestimated the scale of illegal rentals and has failed to adequately protect user data from malicious actors. Henna Virkkunen, EU Commissioner for Technology, stressed that European citizens are entitled to a safe experience when arranging their travels.
In addition to fraud prevention, regulators are examining whether the platform has breached transparency standards by failing to clearly label sponsored search results.
The EU is specifically looking into whether ads that have paid for premium visibility have been wrongly designated as organic results instead of advertisements.
The case is the first investigation into Booking.com under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a comprehensive regulatory framework designed to hold large digital marketplaces and social media companies to account.
Virkkunen noted that the DSA sets out explicit obligations for online platforms, emphasising that Europe’s leading booking service must comply with those rules.
In response, Booking.com has stated that it intends to cooperate fully with the authorities. The company said that protecting personal data and maintaining user trust are central to its operations, and confirmed its commitment to working with law enforcement and regulatory bodies to combat digital crime.
Although there is no fixed date for the conclusion of the investigation, the company has the option of proposing corrective measures in order to comply with the Commission’s requirements.
If, however, the EU concludes that the platform has breached the DSA, Booking.com may face fines of up to 6% of its total annual global turnover.
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