Ryanair seeks helps from Microsoft to stop screenscraping
Ryanair has sought the help of Microsoft in an attempt to block third parties from screen scraping fares from its website.
The airline is trying to block as many sites as possible with the help of the software giant - mirroring a strategy by Directline Insurance in the UK which claims its products cannot be found on any price comparison website, according to the travel technology website Travolution.The airline said the blocking of third party sites will improve processing times and speed up access for consumers on the site.
This week a court in Hamburg upheld the low-cost carrier’s injunction against the activities of the screenscraper website Vtours.de, which was previously selling Ryanair tickets to German consumers at a mark-up.
Vtours.de had appealed against Ryanair’s original injunction and this case was heard in the Hamburg Court last week. In judgement this week, the Hamburg Court has confirmed that Ryanair’s injunction remains in place, which will prevent the Vtours.de website screenscraping Ryanair’s website and selling Ryanair’s tickets to its customers with unauthorised hidden mark-ups.
——-