The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into whether the global hotel firms shared information through the use of CoStar’s data analytics tool STR and so-called algorithms to help them make commercial decisions. CoStar is under investigation as it owns the data tool through which competitively sensitive information can be shared. The CMA said that when rivals share competitively sensitive information through a data provider it can allow them to predict what each other will do and to co-ordinate they behaviour and pricing. The CMA said: “Companies use various types of data analytics tools and algorithms to help them make commercial decisions. “However, when rival businesses share competitively sensitive information – including through a third-party data analytics provider – this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act.

Source: The Times March 02, 2026 14:04 UTC