Marriott Loses Emergency Bid to Delay Ad Keyword Antitrust Trial

Marriott International Inc. lost its bid to delay an antitrust trial set to start Oct. 25 over its alleged role in an industrywide scheme to rig online advertising auctions, when a federal judge in Texas ruled Wednesday that its concerns about a magistrate’s decision were “unfounded.”

Judge Robert W. Schroeder III denied the hotel chain’s emergency motion to postpone a trial while he reviews a federal magistrate’s report advising him to consider antitrust claims by TravelPass LLC—which brokers hotel room sales through digital advertisements—under a “per se” legal framework.

Schroeder rejected Marriott’s argument that there’s “simply not enough time” to ...