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The Crisis for Small and Medium-Sized Hotels: Booking's CEO Criticizes Google Gemini and ChatGPT for 'Unfair Practices'

The CEO of Booking Holdings, Glenn Fogel, has issued a strong warning that Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT are using their dominant market positions to push small and medium-sized hotels to the brink. Fogel argues that while traditional search allowed users to browse multiple options, AI assistants now often provide only one to three algorithmically filtered "best" recommendations in response to travel queries. This leaves independent hotels, which lack big data resources and dedicated AI optimization teams, effectively invisible in search results. Although Fogel has previously criticized EU regulations like the Digital Markets Act (DMA), he now supports antitrust scrutiny of AI-generated search results. He advocates for audits to ensure that large AI platforms do not unfairly prioritize their own services or those of major corporations that pay high fees. In response to this competitive threat, Booking is investing an additional $700 million by 2026 to develop in-house AI marketing tools and a "Connected Trip" program. The initiative aims to help smaller hotels structure their data to improve visibility across AI platforms, while emphasizing that complex customer service—such as handling flight delays or cancellations—remains a core strength of Booking’s business.

marsbit03/26 02:21