Ad description
A TV ad for a hotel price comparison website featured a couple searching for a hotel room. The voice-over stated, "Trivago compares over 100 websites to find you your ideal hotel at the best price."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the "best price" claim was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Trivago GmbH (Trivago) said it was a hotel search website which provided users with impartial prices on all bookable hotels from over 140 global hotel booking websites. They stated that for each hotel the website displayed the ranking in price order, thus allowing the consumer to clearly see the best prices for the hotels at which they were interested in staying. They said the website also showed the price of nearly all of the booking websites meaning that Trivago showed the prices that were the best on the market. They stated that they did not sell anything to the consumer, and hotels could not be booked through Trivago and explained that users were re-directed to the booking websites. They stated that some of the booking websites they used also operated a 'best price guarantee' and that this same price was available via Trivago because it did not charge a booking fee.
Clearcast said the 'best price' claim related to the price comparison and would be understood to mean the website would help customers find its best price for the hotel they were searching for. They reiterated that the website ranked the search results for hotels according to cost thus making clear which was the best price available. They said the website compared the results of available prices taken from hotel booking websites, including the biggest names in the industry resulting in a very comprehensive list of prices.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered that viewers would understand the claim "Trivago compares over 100 websites to find you your ideal hotel at the best price" to mean that the website would search and display the results for a specific request sourced from a large number of hotel booking websites and that price information would be included in order that the 'best price' from those offers was displayed. We understood the results represented the majority of online booking websites and were therefore likely to include the most competitive prices when booking online. We considered that consumers would understand the 'best price' claim in the context of Trivago's claim to compare over 100 websites and concluded that the ad was not misleading.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.12 3.12 Advertisements must not mislead by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product or service. (Exaggeration) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action required.
