Investigation into Booking.com Preferred Partner Programme for Unfair Commercial Practices
Summary
AGCM has opened a formal investigation into Booking.com B.V., Booking.com International B.V., and Booking.com (Italia) S.r.l. for suspected unfair commercial practices related to the Preferred Partner Programme and its premium tier Preferred Plus. Inspections were carried out at Booking.com (Italia) S.r.l.'s premises by AGCM officials with assistance from the Guardia di Finanza. The Authority alleges that programme eligibility is driven by commission levels rather than quality, with providers given greater visibility and claims of quality/value that may mislead consumers into believing they offer better deals than non-participating providers.
Online travel agencies and digital platforms operating paid-partner or preferred-visibility programmes in Italy should review their programme eligibility criteria and any associated marketing claims against Italian unfair commercial practices standards. The investigation's focus on commission-driven visibility rather than quality-based selection is the specific conduct under scrutiny.
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GovPing monitors AGCM Competition Press Releases for new consumer protection regulatory changes. Every update since tracking began is archived, classified, and available as free RSS or email alerts — 12 changes logged to date.
What changed
AGCM has initiated a formal investigation into Booking.com B.V., Booking.com International B.V., and Booking.com (Italia) S.r.l. for unfair commercial practices under the Preferred Partner and Preferred Plus programmes. The Authority's preliminary view is that these programmes present accommodation providers as selected for quality and value, when eligibility criteria are in fact driven largely by commission levels. Inspections at the Italian premises were conducted by AGCM officials with the Guardia di Finanza.
Online travel agencies and digital platforms that operate similar paid-visibility or partner programmes in Italy should review whether their selection criteria and marketing claims could be characterised as misleading under Italian consumer protection law. If the investigation concludes with a finding of infringement, Booking.com entities could face fines, behavioural remedies, and orders to modify or cease the contested programme practices.
Scheduled event
- Date
- 2026-04-22
- Location
- IT
Archived snapshot
Apr 22, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
PS13115 - Italian Competition Authority launches investigation into Booking.com for unfair commercial practices
PRESS RELEASE
Authorit y concerned that Booking.com may be presenting accommodation providers in the “Preferred Partner” and “Preferred Plus” programmes as selected on the basis of service quality and value for money, even though the relevant eligibility criteria do not appear to ensure that those standards are met.
The Italian Competition Authority has launched an investigation into Booking.com B.V., Booking.com International B.V. and Booking.com (Italia) S.r.l. for engaging in unfair commercial practices. In particular, Booking.com seems to offer accommodation providers belonging to the Preferred Partner Programme (and its premium tier Preferred Plus) greater visibility in search results within the platform, increased graphic prominence, and claims highlighting service quality and value for money. This is despite the fact that the eligibility criteria for those programmes do not appear to justify the advantages afforded to those providers.
In the Authority’s view, selection for the Preferred Partner Programme appears to be driven largely by criteria that favour accommodation providers paying higher commissions to Booking.com, rather than by the quality of what they offer. As a result, the way those providers are presented, together with claims by Booking.com highlighting their quality, may mislead consumers into believing that, all else being equal, they offer better overall value for money than providers not in the programme. This could even lead consumers to book accommodation that is, on average, more expensive.
Inspections at the premises of Booking.com (Italia) S.r.l. were carried out yesterday by the Authority’s officials, assisted by the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza).
Rome, 22 April 2026
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