Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com, has been placed under increased digital scrutiny by the European Union (EU).  

The EU's executive branch, the European Commission (EC), has classified Booking Holdings as an online gatekeeper, with its Booking.com hotel reservation platform meeting the threshold to be considered a "core platform service" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). 

The stringent rules are intended to prevent Big Tech platforms from dominating online space. 

As a result of this classification, Booking Holdings now has a six-month window to ensure its compliance with the DMA's obligations to further enhance choice and freedom for end users. 

Booking must submit a detailed compliance report within these six months, demonstrating adherence to each DMA obligation.  

Some DMA requirements, such as the duty to inform the EC of any intended mergers or acquisitions in the digital sector, are effective immediately.  

The EC will oversee the implementation and adherence to these obligations, with the authority to impose fines of up to 10% of the company's total global turnover for non-compliance, which could increase to 20% for repeated offences. 

EC competition policy executive vice-president in charge Margrethe Vestager said: “Holidaymakers will start benefiting from more choice and hotels will have more business opportunities. Following our decision Booking.com joins the list of core platform services required to adhere to DMA rules.” 

The latest development follows a review process by the EC, which began after receiving notifications from companies about their potential gatekeeper status on 1 March 2024.  

Based on Booking's self-assessment submitted on that date, the EC has confirmed that the service provided by Booking.com is a crucial link between businesses and consumers. 

A spokesperson for Booking told Bloomberg that the company is currently reviewing the designation decision “as it develops solutions to comply with the law”. 

DMA's goal is to ensure competitive and fair markets in the digital sector by regulating gatekeepers, mainly large digital platforms that serve as significant intermediaries between business users and consumers. 

Other tech giants, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, were previously designated as gatekeepers by the EC on 6 September 2023 and were required to fully comply with all DMA obligations by 7 March 2024.