Australia’s consumer watchdog is called for a multimillion-dollar penalty for travel website Trivago’s ‘outrageous behaviour.’

In yet another case of a global travel company misleading consumers over the ‘cheapest deals’ for hotel rooms, Trivago was found guilty in a  Federal Court.

Justice Mark Moshinsky said Europe based Trivago failed to display the cheapest offers for hotel rooms, contraray to its claims.

Instead it promoted OTA partners which paid the most in fees to the company.

“Contrary to the impression created by the relevant conduct, the Trivago website did not provide an impartial, objective and transparent price comparison service,” Justice Moshinsky said.

“The fact that Trivago was being paid by the online booking sites was not made clear.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission now wants Trivago to be punished with a fine ‘in the millions’ of dollars.

“We want these to be penalties that the company sits up and takes notice of.”

“Trivago’s hotel room rate rankings were based primarily on which online hotel booking sites were willing to pay Trivago the most,” said ACCC chairman, Rod Sims.

“This decision sends a strong message to comparison websites and search engines that if ranking or ordering of results is based or influenced by advertising, they should be upfront and clear with consumers about this so that consumers are not misled.”

Trivago was also found guilty of misleading price comparisons by comparing standard room rates with luxury rooms at the same hotels.