Expedia & Google: No Comment From Both About Possible Expedia Penalty

Expedia appears to have been hit by a Google penalty related to unnatural links. So what do Google and Expedia have to say about the situation? No comment.
As covered yesterday, the visibility of Expedia listings in Google appears to have recently plunged, according to measurements by Searchmetrics:

This comes after accusations last month, which sparked discussion, that Expedia was obtaining links in a way that go against Google’s guidelines.
So, did Google punish Expedia and if so, for exactly what? Google told us:

We typically don’t comment on specific companies regarding search rankings.

As for Expedia, when asked about the accusations and visibility plunge, its PR agency of record HL Group responded to say:

Expedia will not be commenting on this story.

If we hear more, we’ll update. And stay tuned. If this was a penalty (and it seems likely), and if it’s one that stays longer than a few days, it could go to hurting Expedia’s bottom line. In that case, Expedia might follow as some other companies have done to disclose the traffic hit as a risk or explanation for any loss in revenue.