Study finds travel sites manipulate prices, search results
Online booking sites have been accused of lack of transparency when it comes to offering the best rates, according to new research which says available prices can be dependent on past browser history and ‘personalization.’
A study by researchers at the Northeastern University said price discrimination, whereas price is customized to a specific user, and price steering, when the order of search results is customized are two ways that OTAs manipulate results.
The study looked at 16 e-commerce sites and found these practices were more often used by travel search websites.
Examples found included Priceline personalizing search results based on a customer’s previous booking history and Expedia and Hotels.com steered some users to more expensive options.
Travelocity also personalized results specifically for mobile users.
Researchers found that Orbitz customers who registered on the site are charged an average of $12 less than first time users.
Most of these practices are not illegal and in some cases rewarded loyalty by offering lower ‘member only’ rates but lack of transparency means it is hard to know when customers are really getting the best deal, said study co-author Christo Wilson.
"I get this question from people all the time: ‘How do I get the best price?’ The truth is I don’t have a good answer," Wilson said.
"It changes depending on the site, and the algorithms they use change regularly, so good advice today might not be good advice tomorrow."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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