What Is Trivago?
trivago is a global hotel search and price comparison platform, listed on NASDAQ. It works as a hotel metasearch: listing is free for hotels, and online booking sites pay for a hotel to appear as a sponsored link (trivago Delivers Exceptional 27% Revenue Growth in Q4 Closing 2025 on a High) (6 Questions Hoteliers Ask about trivago).
Last updated: October 2026
How trivago works
A traveler runs one search, and trivago scans hundreds of booking sites to compare millions of hotel prices (trivago Help Center). The traveler then clicks a deal and is redirected to that booking site to make the reservation (trivago Help Center). That search-compare-redirect flow is the metasearch model, and the full mechanics of metasearch are explained on that page.
The money comes from advertisers, who pay in one of two ways. Under cost per click (CPC), they pay for each click; under cost per acquisition (CPA), the advertiser pays trivago a percentage of the booking amount that results from a referral (trivago N.V. Form 20-F FY2025). When trivago added CPA bidding for hotels in 2020, a hotel could bid a commission instead of a click price, pay for bookings as they are made, and mix the two models by campaign (Trivago adds the CPA model as a bidding method (Roiback)). That source dates from 2020, so check the current terms with trivago. The general idea of paying per booking is covered under cost per acquisition.
Why trivago matters for hotel distribution
Most of trivago's revenue comes from its largest OTA advertisers, and most of the money owed to it is owed by Booking Holdings and Expedia Group (trivago N.V. Form 20-F FY2025). A hotel that appears on trivago is often bidding against the same OTAs that sell its rooms.
The business is growing. Total revenue for 2025 rose 19% to €548.9 million, up from €460.8 million in 2024 (trivago q4 2025 earnings (PhocusWire)). Referral revenue was €532.9 million in 2025, compared with €456.2 million in 2024 (trivago q4 2025 earnings (PhocusWire)).
Ranking rules matter as much as price. In Australia, a court ordered trivago to pay AUD 44.7 million in penalties in 2022 for misleading consumers: its ranking placed significant weight on which booking site paid the highest cost-per-click fee, so it often did not highlight the cheapest rate (trivago to pay $44.7 million in penalties for misleading consumers over hotel room rates (ACCC)). The conduct ran from December 2016 to September 2019. In the case, a higher-priced room was picked as the top offer over a cheaper one in 66.8% of listings (trivago to pay $44.7 million in penalties (ACCC)).
Independent hotels also lost a no-bid route to direct booking. Free booking links let independent hotels on Business Studio show their own website rates through a connectivity provider, with no cost per booking, though connectivity provider fees could still apply (trivago's Free Booking Links Bring Travelers and Hoteliers One Step Closer (Hospitality Net)). trivago ended free booking links from 17 January 2025 (Trivago sunset Free Booking Links (Cendyn)). How metasearch fits next to the other channels in a property's plan is covered in our post on hotel distribution strategy.
How trivago compares with OTAs and direct booking
| Channel | What it is | How it relates to trivago |
|---|---|---|
| trivago | Hotel metasearch that compares prices from hundreds of booking sites | Compares prices; advertisers pay by CPC or CPA |
| OTA, such as Booking.com or Expedia | A booking site where the traveler makes the reservation | trivago's largest advertisers |
| Hotel direct booking engine | The hotel's own booking site | Free booking links sent travelers to it at no cost per booking until 17 January 2025 |
trivago and OTA rows: trivago N.V. Form 20-F FY2025. Direct booking row: Trivago sunset Free Booking Links (Cendyn). The hotel's own engine is explained under hotel booking engine.
Frequently asked questions
Is trivago legit?
Who owns the company?
What is Book & Go?
Does the site list vacation rentals?
Related terms
See all termsWhere Jetstream fits
trivago shows a property's rates as they come from the booking sites and the hotel itself, so those rates need to match everywhere the property sells. Jetstream builds distribution technology that connects a property's rooms, rates and availability to every channel it sells through and keeps them accurate on each one, managed from one place.