Expedia

User comments (primarily from HackerNews) reveal three major themes. First, an SEO scandal: Expedia was caught engaging in questionable link-building practices, with an inbound marketing director confirming the company was contacted about 'damning evidence of expedia spam.' Debate ensued over whether these were paid links or legitimate affiliate/referral programs, with one commenter noting 'Expedia isn't paying for the link, they're paying for the conversions generated by the link.' Second, the OTA middleman model is heavily criticized: Expedia reportedly takes 25% commission on hotel bookings, and hotels are forbidden by NDA from disclosing this to guests. Multiple commenters recommend booking directly with hotels, citing that bypassing the middleman should yield better deals and service. Third, mixed booking experiences: one user described a poor experience during the 2010 Iceland volcano eruption where Virgin Atlantic was helpful but Expedia was implied to be less so. However, some users counter that OTAs sometimes offer better deals because they pre-purchase room inventory at wholesale rates. An OTA employee confirmed that many hotel contracts mandate rate parity, meaning hotels cannot legally offer lower direct rates in some cases. Overall sentiment is skeptical of Expedia's value proposition as a middleman.

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