Google Rivals Seek Damages After First EU Markets Fine
Google faces up to $10 billion in private damages claims across Europe after the European Commission fined it €890 million for Digital Markets Act violations.
According to Brussels Signal, claims have already been filed in at least six countries, with legal experts warning that the Commission’s ruling has armed price comparison websites with fresh evidence to pursue compensation in courts across the bloc.
The Commission levied two separate penalties against Alphabet’s search division on July 23. The first, totaling €460 million, punished Google for systematically favoring its own shopping, hotel, transport, and sports services in search results. A second fine of €430 million addressed the company’s practice of preventing app developers from directing Google Play users to cheaper purchasing options outside the platform.
The ruling marks the first enforcement action against Google under the DMA and represents the largest penalty imposed under the regulation to date. Google now has 60 days to cease both practices or face recurring fines of up to 5 percent of its global turnover.
Most pending damages cases originated before the recent ruling, building on the Commission’s 2017 Google Shopping decision that established the company had abused its dominant market position. Claimants in those cases need only demonstrate the scale of their financial losses.
Thomas Hoppner, a partner at Geradin Partners who represented German price comparison platform Idealo, predicted the fine would catalyze additional lawsuits. A Berlin court awarded Idealo €465 million last November, establishing a record for the largest antitrust damages judgment in German legal history.
British comparison website Kelkoo, which is pursuing billions of pounds from Google, argued the decision bolsters its case by demonstrating the company continues its self-preferencing behavior. Chief executive Richard Stables stated the ruling proves Google is still self-referencing even to this day, as reported by Brussels Signal.
Italy’s Moltiply Group, operator of the Trovaprezzi.it comparison platform, is seeking €2.97 billion in damages. Chairman Marco Pescarmona praised the DMA as sound legislation but criticized regulators for being hesitant to enforce it aggressively.
Litigation funder LitFin is bankrolling two separate groups suing Google in Amsterdam over its shopping auction practices, with combined damages claims exceeding $1 billion. Chief operating officer Matej Pardo characterized the fines as merely a business expense for the tech giant.
In Sweden, a Stockholm court ordered Google to pay approximately $1.97 billion including interest to Klarna-backed PriceRunner in July. The company filed its claim in 2022, and Pontus Scherp, counsel for Klarna, indicated an appeal could extend the legal battle for years.
Google dismissed the wave of litigation, asserting that the companies involved are seeking financial windfalls rather than investing in improving their own products.
The litigation adds to a mounting financial burden for the search giant, which has accumulated €10.4 billion in EU-imposed fines over the past decade. Google lost its final appeal against a record €4.1 billion penalty concerning its Android operating system on July 2, and the Commission mandated the company share search data with competitors on July 16.
With information from Brussels Signal
