Travel booking giant Expedia EXPE-Q must face a lawsuit accusing it of driving Swiss rival Amoma out of business in the global online hotel search market and costing it more than $100-million, a U.S. judge ruled.
Seattle-based U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein on Thursday denied Expedia’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit for now, finding that Amoma plausibly alleged Expedia abused its market power to harm its competitor.
A representative from Expedia and lawyers for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Expedia has denied the claims.
Amoma marketed itself as providing lower rates to consumers than other booking platforms. It declared bankruptcy in 2019. Attorneys for Amoma did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amoma’s lawsuit, filed in June, said Expedia’s hotel booking subsidiary Trivago made changes to third-partly listings that decreased Amoma’s prominence on the site and increased its cost to display rooms.
The lawsuit said Amoma had relied on Trivago for more than half of its hotel bookings. Amoma was one of the three top advertisers on Trivago, according to its complaint.
Trivago implemented changes to its advertising “bidding” process that would “obscure the cheapest prices from consumers and drive Amoma from the market,” Amoma alleged.
“Were it not for defendant’s actions, consumers would have access to lower hotel rates, and Amoma would still be in business,” Amoma’s lawyers said in the complaint.
Expedia countered that Trivago’s design changes were not anticompetitive. It said Amoma failed to adapt to a new process and failed as a company.
“The antitrust laws do not prohibit a company from seeking to improve its products in response to customer demand even if some customers do not adapt well to those changes,” Expedia said.
The case is Office Cantonal des Faillites de la République et du Canton de Genève acting in its capacity as representative in the bankruptcy of Amoma SARL v. Expedia Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 2:23-cv-00983-BJR.