A resounding win for Australia's consumer watchdog, in its case against the travel website Trivago

A Federal Court judge in Melbourne has ruled Trivago misled customers about cheap hotel deals, by pitching itself as an impartial price comparison service.

In fact...the judge ruled...its recommendations were for sale to the highest bidder.

The judgement goes on to say that the fact Trivago was being paid by the online booking sites was not made clear, and this created a false impression of savings to people shopping around for a good deal.