Google faces $13 billion in European lawsuits over price comparison abuses

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Something to look forward to: Google's online empire is under pressure from both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, regulators aim to break up the company, while in Europe, businesses are demanding damages over its alleged abuse of dominance in the price comparison market.

Google faces civil lawsuits totaling at least €12 billion (over $13 billion) in Europe following a European Commission ruling that it violated antitrust rules through its price comparison service. Brussels fined the company $2.72 billion in 2017, but online shopping firms are now pursuing additional damages through separate legal actions.

Bloomberg recently identified 12 civil cases across seven European countries tied to the 2017 antitrust ruling. While the full value of the lawsuits remains unclear, nine disclosed claims already exceed $13 billion. Google has weathered a growing wave of litigation in recent years, and more companies could follow if current cases succeed.

Some claims involve a few hundred million dollars, while others exceed the billion-dollar mark, including Idealo in Germany ($3.9 billion), Trovaprezzi in Italy ($3.3 billion), and Pricerunner in Sweden ($2.35 billion). Plaintiffs argue that Google diverted online traffic from rival price comparison services by exploiting its dominance in search, a behavior that continues despite the 2017 antitrust fine.

Google maintains it did nothing wrong and has dismissed the new lawsuits as baseless. Courts will soon put that stance to the test. A judge in London is currently reviewing claims from Kelkoo and the now-defunct site Foundem, while a court in Amsterdam hears Compare Group's arguments in September.

Furthermore, new lawsuits over Google's alleged antitrust violations continue to emerge. Last month, several European companies filed a $1 billion claim in Amsterdam, while Italy's Moltiply Group SA alleged that Google caused $3.3 billion in losses to the shopping site Trovaprezzi between 2010 and 2017.

Idealo co-founder Albrecht von Sonntag says internet monopolies like Google's ultimately harm customers, competition, and the European economy. In February, Idealo raised its damage estimate from $559 million to $3.7 billion. A Google spokesman rejected the lawsuits, accusing the plaintiffs of chasing quick profits rather than building successful products.

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Google faces $13 billion in European lawsuits over price comparison abuses

 

[RudyBob]

The EU will win if the trial is in EU. The EU is the worst

 

[3ogdy]

The EU will win if the trial is in EU. The EU is the worst

Truth be told, I'm sick of Google Shopping telling me a certain product (say PC component) is being sold for X, only for me to find it costs more once I reach the shop's website. Something certainly isn't right with GShopping.

I've been using their service for a few years now and I can confidently say this was not the case back then.

 

[Kirby1]

The EU will win if the trial is in EU. The EU is the worst

You would rather be screwed by a big company than have some basic consumer protections?

Go to bed grandpa, you're sundowning.

IMO the fine should be more like 50 billion if they want Google to actually rethink it's anti-competitiveness.

 

[p51d007]

LOL, never used google shopping. Between the browser I use & Adguard, I never see their garbage. But I use DDG 99% of the time anyway.

 

[RudyBob]

You would rather be screwed by a big company than have some basic consumer protections?

Go to bed grandpa, you're sundowning.

IMO the fine should be more like 50 billion if they want Google to actually rethink it's anti-competitiveness.

That's Mr Grandpa to you. I would rather folk pay attention to what is said by those that said it then needing an interpretation and analysis prior to forming an opinion. It takes decades of study. I stand by my post.

 

[Kirby1]

That's Mr Grandpa to you. I would rather folk pay attention to what is said by those that said it then needing an interpretation and analysis prior to forming an opinion. It takes decades of study. I stand by my post.

Pure hot air and nonsense. Zero common sense at all, yet doubling down.

Can't say I expected anything different, but regardless it's clear your opinion has no actual thought or information behind it other than "EU BAD".