Online booking sites have been accused of lack of transparency when it comes to offering the best rates, according to new research that says available prices can be dependent on past browser history and ‘personalisation.’
A study by researchers at the Northeastern University in the US said price discrimination (where price is customised to a specific user) and price steering (when the order of search results is customised) 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 highlighted in the report include Priceline personalising search results based on a customer’s previous booking history and Expedia and Hotels.com steering some users to more expensive options.
Travelocity also personalised results specifically for mobile users.
Researchers found that Orbitz customers who registered on the site were 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."
