[burk96]

Yes it happened to me, a hotel was priced significantly cheaper on Google and on their site initially. When the price went up I just called the hotel and the higher rate was their standard and only rate that they offered. The initial advertised price was never an actual option.

[cameronbrown]

I work for Google.

You can report fraudulent ads with the form here: https://support.google.com/google-ads/contact/vio_other_aw_p...

[GrumpyNl]

Google should do a better job at fraudulent ads instead of waiting for a consumer to complain.

[JMTQp8lwXL]

FindHotel.com's prices are frequently understated when searching with Google Hotels. You click the link, and the price magically goes up $40, and that number still doesn't include taxes and resort fees.

[nothrabannosir]

Isn’t that plain illegal, full stop? If that’s not the textbook definition of false advertising then I don’t know what is.

[ben509]

If the Lanham act applies, possibly[1]. This isn't typical false advertising, though, as it's not claiming their service does a thing it doesn't nor is it defaming a competitor, it's lying about interest in the service.

Looking at the criteria:

> (1) a false statement of fact has been made about the advertiser's own or another person's goods, services, or commercial activity;

I think a fake number of people looking is a false statement of fact about commercial activity.

> (2) the statement either deceives or has the potential to deceive a substantial portion of its targeted audience;

Seems like a false number would deceive anyone who saw it.

> (3) the deception is also likely to affect the purchasing decisions of its audience;

And it would induce them to purchase when they might otherwise hold off the decision.

> (4) the advertising involves goods or services in interstate commerce; and

It's the web, so naturally.

> (5) the deception has either resulted in or is likely to result in injury to the plaintiff.

This is where it gets dicey and you'd need to ask a lawyer, or someone familiar with case law. The source I'm citing goes on to say:

> The injury is usually attributed to money the consumer lost through a purchase that would not have been made had the advertisement not been misleading.

I think if you could show, "I would have shopped for another price if I didn't think this was almost sold out," then you might have a case.

But... I suspect your damages would be the difference in prices between booking.com and some competitor, which are likely to be fairly small. The source has a whole section on remedies that might apply.

[1]: https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/False+Adverti...

[bigwavedave]

I think you misunderstand- the parent comment you replied to is referring to ads on Google using a much, much lower price that isn't actually offered by the hotel; it's not referring to whether or not the number of people looking at the ad is misleading/false.

[ben509]

Oops, you're right. Oh well, it was relevant to the main article.

[cwkoss]

Yes

[microcolonel]

AFAIK Google takes this sort of thing rather seriously... if they ever hear about it.

[rasz]

Sure they do, unless you are a cash cow in which case you get a mild warning.

[GordonS]

Problem is that they know almost nobody is going to try to contact Google about this, and of those that do, their emails are almost certainly going to be of ignored.