While they operate as separate brands with different business models, Trivago is a subsidiary of the Expedia Group. Expedia Group, an American travel giant, acquired a majority stake (approximately 60%) in the German-based Trivago in 2013 for over $600 million. In 2026, they maintain a "parent-subsidiary" relationship: Expedia is an Online Travel Agency (OTA) where you can directly book flights and hotels, whereas Trivago is a Metasearch Engine that compares prices from hundreds of different booking sites (including Expedia and its other subsidiaries like Hotels.com). This means when you use Trivago to find a deal, you are often being directed back to an Expedia-owned site to complete the actual purchase. Despite this ownership, Trivago operates with its own headquarters in Düsseldorf and its own public listing on the NASDAQ (TRVG). This corporate structure allows the Expedia Group to capture revenue from both the direct booking market and the price-comparison "referral" market that travelers use to hunt for the lowest possible hotel rates globally.