Stage 3: Ripping you off · Travel
Ads, fees, dark patterns, and worse defaults as incentives tilt from pleasing users toward harvesting value.
-
Airbnb
3Two-sided travel marketplace: guest fees, host policies, and algorithmic ranking shift surplus toward the platform as inventory professionalizes.
-
Booking.com
3OTA giant: aggressive merchandising, Genius loyalty nudges, and partner commissions typify scaled travel extraction.
-
Expedia
3Legacy OTA family: bundling, member pricing, and supplier terms tilt the stack toward the intermediary.
-
Hotels.com
3Expedia-owned OTA: rewards stamps and merchandising follow the same commission-and-upsell playbook as sister brands.
