The European Commission has opened an official investigation against the Booking.com platform to verify whether it has taken sufficient measures against false accommodation listings, phishing scams, and unclearly marked paid advertisements.
The investigation is being carried out based on the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The investigation announced on Wednesday focuses on three main aspects:
- False listings and non-compliant offers. The Commission will verify whether Booking.com has correctly identified and evaluated the risks associated with non-existent properties, identity fraud, and accommodation offers that do not match the descriptions, as well as whether it has effectively removed such listings.
- Phishing scams. The investigation will analyze whether reservation and guest data are sufficiently protected and whether the platform has taken measures to prevent their use in fraud attempts. The Commission will also examine how data is shared with accommodation units and the functioning of the platform's messaging system.
- Unclearly marked paid advertisements. Accommodation providers can pay for a more visible position in search results. The Commission will verify whether users can easily identify promoted ads, who paid for them, and why they are displayed.
How the investigation started
The decision comes after a preliminary investigation, which included analyzing the company's risk assessment and transparency reports in 2026 and over the last three years, as well as Booking.com's responses to the official information requests sent by the Commission in September 2025 and May 2026.
The European executive announces that it will continue to gather evidence, including through additional requests for information, interviews, and inspections. Depending on the results, the Commission may impose provisional measures, find violations of the law, or accept the company's commitments to address the issues.
The opening of the investigation does not mean that Booking.com has already violated the law. The investigation will determine whether the platform has fulfilled its obligations under the DSA.
Booking.com was designated as a very large online platform in April 2023, a status that subjects it to additional obligations regarding the identification and reduction of systemic risks and advertising transparency.