Orbitz' price assurance serves a different purpose (if it even works).

With FareLock you buy a right to purchase a ticket at a certain price. So you'd use that as cancellation insurance if you buy a ticket and aren't 100% sure yet whether all the other arrangements will work out (e.g., need to check with spouse, but don't want to lose out on great fare).

Orbitz will give you money back if someone else books the exact same flights for less. How often do you think will this happen in practice?

And yes, it's utterly shocking and despicable that a publicly traded and owned company is trying to make money.