StubHub

Hopper to Pay $35M in FTC Settlement Over Hidden Fees

Hopper agreed to a $35 million settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission after the FTC sued the travel app for allegedly misleading users by charging hidden fees and misrepresenting total costs. The FTC found Hopper's interface pre-selected optional charges (like tips and VIP Support), obscured fees until users scrolled, and failed to clearly disclose restrictions on its Price Freeze/Hold offerings. The settlement requires Hopper to provide consumer redress and prohibits future misrepresentations of pricing and undisclosed fees. The article places the case in a broader regulatory trend against 'dark patterns' and hidden or deceptive fee displays.

Brave Expands into France and Germany with Key Hires

Brave Browser & Search Engine has announced expansion into continental Europe, appointing Zouher Yahia as Senior Ad Sales Director for France and Thomas Bindl as Senior Ad Sales Director for Germany. The move follows Brave’s growth in the UK, US and Canada. Brave Search is described as the third-largest independent search engine with an index of over 40 billion webpages and more than 2 billion monthly queries; the Brave browser has over 117 million users. In 2025 Brave reported a 55% increase in search queries via its browser and a 400% rise in advertising revenues. Brave promotes a privacy-first, no-profile search experience, serves a single ad per query, and offers ad formats including solus sponsored search placements and the New Tab Takeover.

Claude Becomes Super-App with App Connectors

Anthropic expanded Claude’s connector ecosystem to include everyday consumer apps so users can open Spotify, book travel, order groceries and more directly inside the chat. The update adds integrations (available on web, desktop and mobile beta) with services such as Spotify, Booking.com, Instacart, Uber/ Uber Eats, Resy, TripAdvisor, Audible and others. Anthropic says the assistant detects user intent and suggests contextually relevant apps; actions that create purchases or bookings require user confirmation. Since the connector launch in July 2025 the directory has grown to over 200 integrations. Anthropic also states linked-app data is accessed on the user’s behalf, kept isolated and not used to train models, and that Claude remains ad‑free with non‑paid recommendations.