EC Designates Booking as a Gatekeeper

The European Commission has designated Booking as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for its online intermediation service Booking.com and decided not to designate X Ads and TikTok Ads. In parallel, the EC has opened a market investigation to assess the rebuttal submitted concerning the online social networking service X.

These decisions follow a review process after EC received the notifications of the three companies regarding their potential status as gatekeepers on 1 March 2024. Based on Booking's self-assessment that it meets the relevant thresholds, the EC has established that this core platform service constitutes an important gateway between businesses and consumers.

In parallel, the EC has opened a market investigation to assess the rebuttal submitted on 1 March 2024 concerning the online social networking service X. This rebuttal argues that, despite meeting the thresholds, X does not qualify as an important gateway between businesses and consumers. The investigation should be completed within five months.

Another rebuttal was submitted concerning the online advertising service X Ads. Although X Ads meets the quantitative designation thresholds under the DMA, the Commission has concluded that this core platform service does not qualify as an important gateway. Therefore, the EC decided not to designate X Ads.

Lastly, the EC received the notification of ByteDance's online advertising service TikTok Ads, including a rebuttal request. The Commission has concluded that, although TikTok Ads meets the quantitative designation thresholds under the DMA, this core platform service does not qualify as an important gateway. Consequently, the EC decided not to designate TikTok Ads either.

Following its designation, Booking now has six months to comply with the relevant obligations under the DMA, offering more choice and freedom to end users and fair access of business users to the gatekeeper services. Booking has six months to submit a detailed compliance report in which it outlines how it complies with each of the obligations of the DMA. However, some of the DMA's obligations start applying immediately, for example, an obligation to inform the EC of any intended concentration in the digital sector.

“Today’s good news is that holidaymakers will start benefiting from more choices 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. Today we’ve also decided not to designate ByteDance and X over their online advertising services,“ said Margrethe Vestager, Executive EC Vice-President in charge of competition policy.