Introduction to the Business Model of Trivago It is a price comparison platform where hotels and brands advertise and list their offerings. Trivago charges them based on the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model. It also offers free and paid versions to brands to promote their offerings on Trivago's platform. 👉 Trivago earns revenues in two ways: The first is commissions from hotels listed on Trivago sites, which is called referral revenue. ... Hotels are charged based on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, whereby booking sites pay Trivago for the clicks that users make on Trivago when selecting hotel booking deals.