Duff on Hospitality Law

Good Sunday afternoon from Seattle and happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers . . . Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, May 8, 2026, is below. It was another busy week in online travel as both Expedia and Airbnb released their quarterly earnings (transcripts from both earnings release calls are linked below). I’ve also included a few legal updates featuring everyone’s favorite – influencers –, Trivago’s anti-trust claims against Google and Google’s latest attempt at DMA compliance. Enjoy.

• • UK Authority Raises Concerns Over Influencer Posts. As influencers’ influence over important social media channels continues to grow, the UK’s advertising authority, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has issued a report detailing influencers’ failure to properly disclose their posts as travel ads. In its review of over 500 social media posts (Instagram and Tik Tok), the ASA found that only 20% of the posts were properly disclosed, 11% were disclosed, but inadequately, and 69% contained no disclosures. According to the report, ASA plans to contact both travel suppliers and influencers over the problematic posts. An important reminder for our US and UK readers, travel suppliers in the US and UK can be held responsible for influencers’ failure to properly disclose, so due diligence and oversight is critical.
  • Expedia Posts Strong 1Q26 Financial Results. Again, we’re not going to dive into the financial results of Expedia’s first quarter – there are many (far more qualified) resources to provide those details. Highlights for me from this past quarter’s earnings release include the following:
    
    • According to Expedia CEO, Ariane Gorin, the use of AI is benefiting Expedia many ways including higher conversions on VRBO via servicing agents and AI filters, faster onboarding of new properties, increasing numbers (30%) of service interactions powered by AI, improved marketing value and increased traffic volumes and acquisition. Answer engine optimization (e.g., ChatGPT ads) is now Expedia’s “fastest growing channel.”
    • B2B continues to be a primary growth engine (see recent Uber announcement). Revenue in the first quarter grew 25% (to $1.2 billion). Ariane now views Expedia’s B2B business as an entirely separate line of business.
  • Meet Lola, Booking Holdings' “East Coast” Startup. Skift this past week revealed further details on one of Booking Holdings’ startups (the “East Coast” startup), Lola. The “stealth” project features two online travel industry veterans, Kayak’s Steve Hafner and Paul English. A new splash page for the startup appeared this past week featuring brand banners for Booking.com, Kayak, OpenTable, FareHarbor and SeatGeek. Our readers might remember an earlier version of “Lola,” which was launched in 2015 and featured a combination of digital online travel services and human agents. That effort was ultimately purchased by Capital One in 2021.
  • William Shatner is Back. Sorry, I cannot pass up a story featuring the original online price negotiator. He’s now 95.
  • Trivago Brings Anti-Trust Claims Against Google. Trivago this past week filed suit against Google in a German Court alleging that the search giant favored its own hotel metasearch products over those of its competitors (which is prohibited under the DMA), like Trivago. The suit covers the period of January 2024 – December 2025 and seeks damages as well as the disclosure of traffic and revenue data.
  • Google Testing New Search Box in Latest Attempt to Comply with DMA. Google’s ongoing efforts to satisfy its DMA obligations and major advertisers continues. Google’s latest effort includes a box at the top of search results that features a single comparison website (e.g., Booking.com). The featured comparison website will be determined based on relevance to the specific search query, not an auction. Suppliers will be given a separate second box under the initial comparison website’s box. With the success of Google AI mode, one has to ask how much longer the current iteration of the DMA and the EU’s enforcement efforts will even be relevant.
  • Takeaways from Recent AmexGBT Announcement. Much has been written this past week over Long Lake Management’s announced private takeover of the corporate travel platform, Amex GBT. While the takeover represents the latest chapter in the platform’s long and storied history, it also sends a strong message about corporate travel and the belief, at least by certain investors, that corporate travel is a prime candidate for AI automation. Long Lake Management was formed in 2023 and is backed by many of the same investors behind several prominent AI companies, including ChatGPT. Long Lake Management’s previous endeavors have focused on traditional service businesses that it believed could benefit from the introduction and use of AI. Its latest efforts in the homeowner association management business produced 25-30 percent productivity gains. Now Long Lake Management is focused on another service business, corporate travel. What this means for Amex GBT and its 22,000 employees and corporate/managed travel generally will be watched by many in the months and years to come. Stay tuned.

Have a great week everyone.