About state legislation regarding fee transparency for lodging prices

Several states are passing legislation to enhance fee transparency in online pricing, requiring platforms to include all non-governmental fees in the advertised price of goods and services, which includes lodging platforms. This legislation aims to provide consumers with a clear and accurate understanding of the total cost involved before making a purchase.

Examples of this legislation

California Senate Bill 478 (SB 478): Effective July 1, 2024, this bill requires businesses to include all mandatory fees in advertised prices for goods and services offered to California consumers.

Minnesota House File 3438 (HF 3438): Taking effect on January 1, 2025, this bill similarly requires businesses to include all non-governmental fees in the advertised prices for goods and services offered to Minnesota consumers.

Heads up: On December 17, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a final rule requiring short-term lodging businesses to include all mandatory fees in prices offered or advertised to US consumers. We don’t yet know the effective date of the rule but will update as we know more.

Changes coming to Google’s products

For users within states with such legislation and for users looking at lodging in these states, the default price displayed on Google will combine both the base rate and the non-governmental fees included in your feed. This change will apply to all instances where we present a hotel price (for example, booking links, display prices, map pins, and more).

How can partners be ready?

Partners can prepare for this launch by confirming that you’re providing the correct price information in your price feeds, and specifically ensure you’re breaking out taxes and fees accurately based on your feed type:

Push, Pull, and Changed Pricing partners: Confirm you’re using <OtherFees> and <Tax> correctly in your Transaction Messages.
ARI partners: Confirm you have the appropriate taxes and fees included in your “Rate” and “TaxandFeeInfo” messages. Learn more about the Tax and Fee Message.
Length of Stay API pricing partners should use the new “fees” array to send fees separately from taxes.

Partners are expected to proactively review and adjust your pricing practices to ensure ongoing compliance with state and local laws.

Tax and fee policy reminder

Partners are prohibited from manipulating the price breakdown by decreasing the base rate while increasing taxes and/or fees. Review our Taxes and Fees policy.

Our definition of base rate for impacted properties and users will include fees when assessing compliance with these policies.

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?