German court orders Google to pay €572m for abusing market dominance in price comparison sector

Google rejects the court's conclusions

A German court has ruled that Google must pay €572 million in damages to two domestic price comparison platforms after finding the tech giant abused its dominant market position for more than a decade.

According to details reported by Reuters, the court concluded that between 2008 and 2023 Google systematically steered search traffic toward its own shopping service at the expense of rivals.

This conduct, the court said, harmed competition in the price comparison sector and directly disadvantaged platforms that relied on Google's search visibility to reach consumers.

Under the ruling, Berlin-based Idealo will receive about €465 million in damages, far below the €3.3 billion it initially sought.

Another price comparison tool, Producto, has been awarded €107 million.

Idealo's leadership welcomed the judgment but signalled it would continue to pursue the full amount it claims Google's conduct cost the company.

"We welcome the court holding Google accountable. But the consequences of self-favouring go far beyond the amount awarded," said Idealo co-founder and CEO Albrecht von Sonntag.

"We will continue to fight - because market abuse must have consequences and must not become a lucrative business model that is worthwhile despite fines and compensation payments."

Idealo's lawsuit was prompted in part by a 2024 European Court of Justice decision upholding the European Commission's earlier finding that Google had illegally favoured its own shopping comparison service. That case led to a separate fine of roughly $2.7 billion.

Google, for its part, rejected the German court's conclusions and said it intends to appeal both rulings.

"The changes we made in 2017 are working well, with no intervention from the European Commission," a company spokesperson said.

"The number of price comparison sites in Europe using the remedy Shopping Unit has multiplied from seven then to 1,550 today."

The spokesperson added that Google Shopping now operates as if it were a standalone business and competes in advertising auctions under the same conditions as rival services.

The German court's ruling adds to Google's growing list of global antitrust challenges and intensifies scrutiny of how the company uses its power in search and online commerce.

EU regulators recently opened an investigation into whether Google's spam-prevention policies unfairly affect publishers' visibility in search results.

The company was also hit in September with a €2.95 billion fine, for allegedly favouring its own advertising offerings.

In 2019, Google received a €1.49 billion fine for preventing rival companies from placing search ads on publishers’ websites.

In 2018, regulators ordered the company to pay €2.42 billion for abusing its dominant position in online shopping search results.

Google is also facing mounting legal threats beyond Europe. In April, advertisers filed a class-action lawsuit at the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that Google inflated prices for search ads and shut out rival search engines through anti-competitive practices.

That same month, Japan's Fair Trade Commission issued a cease-and-desist order accusing the company of forcing Android device makers to preinstall Google apps such as Play and Chrome.

The order prohibits Google from requiring such preinstallation and compels it to publish new guidelines aligning its conduct with Japanese antitrust law.