in 2017, agoda, among other hotel sites, was subject to a probe by the competition and markets authority in the united kingdom. the probe was related to "concerns about hidden charges, pressure selling tactics, misleading discount claims and the order in which results appear on the site pages." agoda agreed to change how it operates in response to this probe. in 2017, the tourism minister of thailand called for agoda among others to drop illegal and unregistered hotels. agoda was the main target of criticism among those criticized, and its success is part of what drove the ministry of tourism & sports to create a competitive hotel booking website. in 2018, agoda cooperated with the taipei city government's request to remove illegal and unregistered taipei hotels from its listings. agoda faced legal action from the turkish travel agencies association due to alleged unfair competition in relation to the country's competition law. it faced a potential ban as part of this lawsuit. in november 2018, south korea's fair trade commission issued a remedial order to agoda on its refund policies following its noncompliance with a ruling they made. a class action lawsuit against agoda over agoda sending texts to customers when they book a hotel giving them the booking number and advertising their booking app was dismissed. the reason for dismissal was due to it being a transactional message, and thus no express written consent was required. hotel online expressed concern over agoda's mix and save feature, feeling that it poses a risk to a hotel's bottom line due to shorter stays affecting upkeep costs.