by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 4:08 PM ET, Thu May 9, 2019
The Utah attorney general is investigating Expedia Group for potentially conspiring with some of this country's largest hotel chains to suppress competition in the online booking arena.
A new report from Bloomberg states that the office is looking into whether Expedia conspired with such household names as Marriott International, Hilton and other companies in a scheme that may have including manipulating search advertising on Google.
The Bloomberg report is based on documents filed in state court last week in Utah and other states have also joined the filing.
The claims were initiated as part of a lawsuit filed last year by a Utah company that sells hotel room inventory through Google search ads, Bloomberg reported.
The lawsuit, from TravelPass Group LLC, alleges that hotel chains and Expedia restricted competition to buy ads and reduce consumer choices.
The complaint also names Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Hyatt Hotels Corp.
The Utah Attorney General's office states in its filings that they have "reasonable cause to believe that a violation of the Utah Antitrust Act has occurred based upon the allegations set forth in the lawsuit."
The lawsuit lays out the changing landscape of the Google search process, detailing what historically took place when searches for hotels were conducted and what search results look like today.
The lawsuit claims Expedia, (which owns Orbitz, hotels.com and Trivago NV,) coordinated a conspiracy among hotels that shut TravelPass out of the market.
"The defendant hotels' illegal activities have severely reduced, and in many cases even eliminated, the revolutionary benefits of the internet economy for hotel consumers," TravelPass said in its complaint. "The conspiracy has left in its wake an online travel booking marketplace characterized by deliberately limited information and high transaction costs."
It's illegal under federal law and state antitrust laws for companies to work together to harm competition, Bloomberg explained.
If it's determined that there is a violation, the Utah attorney general can go to court to put a halt to the conduct and also pursue civil fines.
Additional hotel companies named as defendants in the suit include Choice Hotels International, Red Roof Inns, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Six Continents Hotels, which is part of InterContinental Hotels Group.
Expedia, Marriott, Choice, Wyndham, Hilton, Hyatt, Red Roof and Caesars declined to comment for Bloomberg's story. InterContinental Hotels said it has not received notice of Utah's investigation and would respond to TravelPass's allegations in court.
According to a separate story, published in USA Today a few weeks ago, the hotel industry's "Big 6" - Hilton, Marriott, Choice, IHG, Wyndham, and Hyatt, now account for a majority U.S. hotel rooms.
This market monopoly is the focus of more than just the TravelPass lawsuit. Yet another anti-trust lawsuit alleges there was an agreement among these industry giants to squelch competition, increase prices and limit comparison shopping by consumers.
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