Shortly after launch, Stephan Stubner resigned as Managing Director, but the three other founders (Rolf Schrömgens, Peter Vinnemeier and Malte Siewert) remained.

[4] In December 2010, Trivago sold a quarter of the company for US$52.86 million to a US investment fund, Insight Venture Partners.

[11][12][13] On November 5, 2019, CEO Rolf Schrömgens announced he will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Axel Hefer.

[15] In January 2021, Trivago acquired weekend.com, a startup focused on finding travelers inspirational weekend getaway packages.

[3] As a hotel price comparison website, Trivago makes money from advertising partners primarily using a cost-per-click (CPC) business model.

[29] When the company aired its first U.S. TV advertisement in 2012, the ad's spokesman inspired a trending Twitter hashtag, #trivagoguy, based on his unusual look.

[30] According to Rolling Stone, Trivago "wanted someone real, approachable and genuine" when it chose actor Tim Williams to star in the ad.

The Trivago guy became an unexpected celebrity, with some people noting his unbuttoned shirt and creepy vibe, while others found his scruffy appearance and deep voice "inexplicably sexy".

For Latin America (the whole Spanish-speaking region) Trivago's commercials are presented by Spanish actor Gonzalo Peña.

[39] In Japan, Trivago is represented in their TV commercials by singer/songwriter Natalie Emmons, who uses the pseudonym "Strae" in the United States.

The court found that search results were ordered giving preference to the highest paying "cost per click" advertisers, rather than outright cheapest prices.

It was also found that the company's television advertising misled consumers by purporting to be "impartial and objective", when it fact it wasn't.

The ACCC argued Trivago promised customers impartial, objective and transparent hotel price comparisons which would allow them to quickly and easily identify the cheapest offer available.