Google faces private damages lawsuits in Europe that could total as much as $10 billion after the European Commission imposed an 890 million euro fine on the company under the Digital Markets Act, according to Reuters.
The Commission fined Google 460 million euros on July 23 for favoring its own services, including Google Shopping, Google Flights and hotel search, in search results, and another 430 million euros for restricting app developers from steering users to cheaper purchase options outside Google Play.
Google has 60 days to comply with the ruling or face additional penalties of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide turnover. The decision was the first penalty issued under the Digital Markets Act. It came during a difficult period for Google in European courts.
On July 1, a Stockholm court ordered Google to pay $1.97 billion, including interest, to PriceRunner, the price comparison business owned by Klarna, for favoring its own shopping results.
The following day, Google lost its appeal against a record 4.1 billion euro EU fine linked to its Android operating system. Half a dozen lawyers and litigation financiers told Reuters that more lawsuits are being prepared across Europe.
Italy’s Moltiply Group, which operates price comparison site Trovaprezzi.it, is seeking 2.97 billion euros. In Amsterdam, litigation finance firm LitFin is backing two groups suing Google over its shopping auctions and seeking more than $1 billion combined. UK-based Kelkoo is pursuing claims worth billions of pounds.
“I think this will trigger a new wave of litigation,” Thomas Hoppner, a partner at Geradin Partners, which advised German platform Idealo, told Reuters.
A Berlin court in November awarded Idealo 465 million euros in its case against Google, the largest antitrust damages award made in Germany, according to the source article.
Kelkoo Chief Executive Richard Stables told Reuters the DMA decision could strengthen existing claims. “It shows that Google is still self-referencing even to this day,” he said.
Google rejected the allegations. “We strongly disagree with these lawsuits, which are brought by companies looking for a payout instead of investing in their own products,” a spokesperson said.
Google may still challenge the DMA fine, and cases can run for years. In the original shopping suit, nearly two decades passed between the alleged abuses and the end of appeals, according to the source article.
LitFin Chief Operating Officer Matej Pardo said the fines were “a cost of doing business” and that claimants could wait up to eight years for resolution.
