What a giant racket.. LOL. Even if someone books it calling the hotel itself, they get the commission!? do they? Wow
It's a bit unclear; the point the article makes explicit is that the commission raises prices when coupled with the most-favored nation agreements. There is the mention of "supplier-funded promotions" as "kickbacks", which might be from direct bookings.
This: "Those commissions get baked into hotel prices not just on Expedia but on direct bookings with hotels and other online travel agencies"
Expedia doesn't get the commission, but the hotel is forced to offer a rate that matches its "most-favored nation" agreement with Expedia etc. so its prices will reflect the [base + commission] rate wherever you find them advertised. This results in a 15–30% hike over what could otherwise be the lowest rate, akin to similar recent complaints abouts Amazon's aggressive price-matching impositions on third-party sellers.