On April 29, 2024, Taiwan’s Fair Trade
Commission (“FTC”) fined Booking.com and Agoda each NT$ 1,000,000 for their anti-competitive
use of paid search advertising.
According to Article 25 of Fair Trade Act, no
enterprise shall otherwise have any deceptive or obviously unfair conduct that
is able to affect trading order. Based on FTC’s guideline, enterprise using other
business’s trade name as internet search keyword to promote and increase the traffic
of said enterprise’s website would constitute an “obviously unfair conduct”
that may be subject to FTC’s administrative fine and injunctive order.
Per FTC’s records, Booking.com (between
2018.7 and 2022.12 ) and Agoda (between 2021.11 and 2022.12) engaged internet
search service providers like Google and utilized its per-paid-click advertising
function. Upon further investigation, FTC found Booking.com and Agoda both purchased
“四方 通行”, the trade name
of local travel agent Easytravel, as search keyword. Therefore, when consumers
key in Easytravel’s trade name “四方通行” in Google’s search bar, advertisings of Booking.com and Agoda
would appear at the top of the search result in parallel with the link leading
to Easytravel’s own website. By utilizing such service, FTC opines Booking.com
and Agoda may intercept consumers’ inquiries that could have been led to Eazytravel’s
website, and harm Eazytravel’s potential business opportunities.
Thus, FTC concludes that Booking.com and Agoda
have violated Article 25 of Fair Trade Act, and fines the two online booking
service providers NT$ 1,000,000 each.
Source:
FTC’s ruling on Booking.com: https://www.ftc.gov.tw/uploadDecision/e99f45fe-5bee-4772-9384-b3acbcc99c7f.pdf
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