Trivago Sues Google in Germany Over Hotel Search Self-Preferencing

Trivago has filed an antitrust damages claim against Google before the Regional Court of Hamburg, alleging that the search company spent more than a decade systematically pushing its own hotel metasearch product at the expense of competing services.

The claim, lodged on May 5, names Google LLC, Google Ireland Ltd., and Google Germany GmbH as defendants. It covers the period from January 2014 through December 2025 and seeks monetary damages calculated through an independent expert analysis. trivago is also asking the court to order Google to disclose relevant traffic and revenue data and to issue a declaratory judgment establishing Google's liability for any ongoing harm from January 2026 forward.

At the core of the claim is the allegation that Google has used its dominant position in general search to favor its own hotel comparison product, Google Hotel Search, in search results pages. By showing its own results prominently while relegating third-party metasearch platforms, Google allegedly reduced the traffic flowing to competitors like trivago in ways that violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as well as corresponding provisions of German competition law.

trivago points to prior regulatory action as foundation for its claim. The European Commission confirmed this type of conduct as unlawful under EU competition law, and the European Court of Justice upheld the Commission's position. A German court in 2025 also ruled that Google must pay €572 million for similar violations in the price comparison sector, suggesting the Hamburg court will be operating within an established legal framework rather than charting new ground.

The filing has direct implications beyond trivago's own bottom line. Hotel operators who use metasearch as a distribution channel have a direct interest in whether competing metasearch platforms can sustain healthy traffic volumes. If trivago's claim succeeds and results in meaningful remedies, it could contribute to a more level playing field in metasearch distribution. If Google is required to change how it displays hotel search results as part of any eventual settlement or judgment, the effects would reach every hotel that bids for metasearch clicks.

trivago's timing is not accidental. The company has been on a five-quarter revenue recovery streak and is now in a financially stronger position to sustain the cost of complex multi-year litigation than it was during its leaner years.