The Amsterdam District Court ruled that German hotels have not provided evidence that Booking.com's past parity clauses restricted competition. The court also raised concerns about the narrow market definition applied by German authorities, noting that substitutability of other sales channels was not considered. Booking.com has not used parity clauses in Germany since 2016.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Marriott, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and STR's owner CoStar Group over suspected sharing of competitively sensitive information through the use of STR. The initial investigation is expected to run for six months until August. The CMA emphasized no assumptions of law-breaking, but could issue a statement of objections if competition law is infringed. CoStar and IHG said they will cooperate fully. A similar class-action lawsuit in the U.S. was dismissed in August 2025.