Google hit with £5bn UK lawsuit over anti-competitive ad practices

Google labels lawsuit as ‘speculative and opportunistic’, vows to fight it ‘vigorously’

Alphabet's Google is facing a legal battle in the UK as a new class action lawsuit seeks up to £5 billion in damages over claims the company abused its dominance in online search advertising.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday at the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleges Google overcharged for search ads due to anti-competitive practices. The complaint accuses Google of leveraging its dominance in the search market to inflate prices for advertisers and block rival search engines from competing effectively.

The case is being championed by competition law expert Dr Or Brook on behalf of thousands of UK businesses. Brook, an associate professor at the University of Leeds, is pursuing compensation for UK organisations that bought Google search ads for their listings between January 2011 and April 2025.

“Today, UK businesses and organisations, big or small, have almost no choice but to use Google ads to advertise their products and services,” Brook said in a statement.

She added: "This class action is about holding Google accountable for its unlawful practices and seeking compensation on behalf of UK advertisers who have been overcharged."

Law firm Geradin Partners is supporting the lawsuit and has initiated a website to gather potential claimants. This service invites UK businesses that purchased Google ads in the past 14 years to register their interest, with an estimated 250,000 businesses potentially affected by Google’s alleged actions, according to the site.

Google denies overcharging, claims services thrive on user trust

As expected, Google has denied the allegations and described the lawsuit as “speculative and opportunistic.” A spokesperson for the company stated, “We will argue against it vigorously. Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives.”

Google is no stranger to antitrust scrutiny. This latest lawsuit follows ongoing scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is investigating whether Google’s ad tech practices have harmed competition. The competition watchdog has previously suggested that Google’s actions could be damaging to thousands of UK publishers and advertisers.

In the US, Google, along with other big tech firms like Meta and Apple, is also contending with similar legal challenges concerning their market power and potential anti-competitive practices.

Last year, a US judge ruled that “Google is a monopolist,” claimed the Android owner

acted illegally to maintain market dominance in online search, and suggested remedies like divestitures.

A similar antitrust drum is being played for the Pixel phone maker in Europe. Last month, the European Commission accused Google of breaking competition rules by prioritising its own ad services. This came after Google was slapped with a €4.3 billion fine in 2018 for Android-related violations.

Meanwhile, this week Japan's Fair Trade Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against Google, accusing it of anti-competitive practices by forcing smartphone manufacturers to install its apps such as Google Play and Chrome on Android devices. The cease-and-desist order bars Google from asking manufacturers to preinstall its apps and compels the company to publish guidelines about how it will comply with Japan’s anti-monopoly laws.