TOKYO -- Japanese antitrust authorities probing travel websites Booking.com, Expedia and Rakuten Travel have shone a light on an industry caught in a vicious cycle, with hotels and ultimately consumers paying the price.
The Fair Trade Commission is looking into the business practices of the three operators, alleging that they force unfair contract terms on hotels in violation of Japan's anti-monopoly law. The watchdog thinks the reservation websites themselves are feeling the heat from so-called metasearch engines, or aggregators, which compile room rates across multiple sites and display them for users in one place.
