'Per the lawsuit, the problem stems from Expedia’s iron grip on hotel bookings, which it uses to charge a 15% commission to hotels that land a booking through the company’s platforms. That commission, it argues, has led to hotels charging travelers up to 30% more on their booking in order to recoup the profit lost from Expedia’s skim.'

...

'Expedia has taken steps to stifle the little competition that remains. It allegedly prohibited hotels from offering better rates than you’d find on Expedia platforms on their own sites or through other, non-Expedia platforms, demoting them in search results if they didn’t comply. Additionally, the company is accused of pressuring hotels to ensure the rates they offer through Expedia are lower than they are on rival sites.

That puts the hotels in a tough spot, forced to pay a commission if they land a booking through Expedia while also getting squeezed to make sure that is the lowest price they can charge. The result of that pressure, per the lawsuit, is that consumers are just getting hit with price inflation across the board, all to satisfy Expedia’s greed.'

Yep, that sounds pretty accurate. And Expedia is hardly the only company with this sort of business model.