Google is facing a fresh wave of legal challenges across Europe, with potential private damages claims estimated at up to $10 billion following years of antitrust scrutiny and a recent setback under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The lawsuits, brought by smaller rivals in several European countries, follow decades of regulatory investigations into Google’s business practices. They come after the technology giant lost its first case under the DMA, a decision legal experts say could open the door for more companies to seek compensation.
The latest ruling follows a $1 billion fine imposed on Google under the DMA for allegedly favouring its own services and preventing app developers from directing users to cheaper purchasing options outside the Google Play Store.
Legal analysts believe the decision is likely to encourage additional claims against the company.
“I think this will trigger a new wave of litigation,” said Thomas Höppner, a partner at Geradin Partners, which advised German price comparison platform Idealo in a market abuse case.
According to Höppner, specialised search companies could seek damages not only for breaches of the DMA but also for earlier conduct under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.
Google rejected the allegations, insisting the claims lack merit.
“We strongly disagree with these lawsuits, which are brought by companies looking for a payout instead of investing in their own products,” a Google spokesperson said.
The legal pressure comes as Alphabet, Google’s parent company, ramps up investment in artificial intelligence, a spending drive that has affected its finances. The company recently reported negative free cash flow in the second quarter for the first time since becoming a publicly traded company.
Google is also contending with more than €10.4 billion in antitrust fines imposed by the European Union over the past decade as regulators intensify oversight of major technology firms.
The company’s antitrust challenges date back to 2008, when it began prominently displaying its own comparison shopping service in search results. Rival comparison websites argued that the practice significantly reduced their traffic, prompting complaints that led to a European Commission investigation.
That probe resulted in a €2.42 billion antitrust fine in 2017, a decision Google unsuccessfully challenged before Europe’s highest court last year.
Since then, several companies have pursued damages based on the ruling.
In November, a Berlin court awarded German comparison shopping platform Idealo €465 million ($528.9 million) in damages, one of the largest antitrust awards ever granted by a German court.
British comparison website Foundem has continued its long-running legal battle, while Swedish platform PriceRunner, backed by Klarna, filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit in 2022 after Google’s appeal against the EU shopping decision was rejected.
UK-based comparison website Kelkoo, which is seeking billions of pounds in damages, said the latest DMA ruling further strengthens its case.
“We expect these to be impacted somewhat by the DMA decision because it shows that Google is still self-referencing even to this day,” Kelkoo Chief Executive Richard Stables told Reuters, adding that the latest ruling gives other claimants stronger grounds to sue.
Litigation funding firms are also preparing to support additional claims against the company.
Matej Pardo, Chief Operating Officer of litigation funder LitFin, which is backing two groups suing Google in Amsterdam over shopping auctions and seeking more than $1 billion in combined damages, said more lawsuits are already in preparation.
“There are already a lot of these claims being filed, and probably more that are being prepared,” he said.
Google’s latest sanctions represent the fifth and sixth antitrust fines imposed on the company by European authorities. Last month, it also lost its appeal against a record €4.1 billion EU fine over its Android operating system after regulators concluded it had used the platform to suppress competition.
Marco Pescarmona, chairman of Moltiply Group, another complainant against Google, praised the DMA but questioned whether regulators were applying it forcefully enough.
“The DMA is a very good piece of legislation. The defect maybe is that it’s so effective that they’re afraid to use it,” he said.
Despite the growing number of lawsuits, legal experts say Google could continue to benefit from lengthy appeals, with competition cases often taking years to conclude.
Pardo noted that nearly two decades elapsed between the alleged abuses in Google’s shopping search business and the exhaustion of its appeals.
“By that time, they’ve already monopolised many markets,” he said, describing regulatory fines as “a cost of doing business” and warning that some cases could take up to eight years to resolve.
In one of the latest rulings, a Stockholm court in July ordered Google to pay approximately $1.97 billion, including interest, in the PriceRunner case. Although Klarna welcomed the judgment, its legal counsel, Pontus Scherp, said the company does not expect an immediate payout because Google is likely to appeal.
“We can expect an appeal to take over a year, and likely years,” Scherp said.
