According to a Reuters report, a German court has concluded that Google exploited its leading position in the price comparison market. The court mandated that the company compensate two German price comparison companies with a total of €572 million ($665.6 million) in damages.
The report indicated that Google is obligated to pay Idealo, a price comparison platform, approximately €465 million (around $540 million) in damages, and Producto, another price comparison tool, €107 million (about $124 million).
Idealo, seeking €3.3 billion in damages from Google, asserted that its legal action directly stemmed from the European Court of Justice’s 2024 decision. That ruling found the search giant in violation of competition regulations for prioritizing its own shopping comparison service, resulting in a fine of about $2.7 billion.
On Friday, Idealo stated its intention to pursue its case against Google and seek the full amount of damages initially claimed.
Albrecht von Sonntag, co-founder and CEO of Idealo, stated, “We are pleased that the court is holding Google accountable. However, the repercussions of self-preferencing extend beyond the awarded sum. We will persist in our fight – as market abuse must face consequences and should not evolve into a profitable business model that remains viable despite fines and compensation.”
Google announced its intention to appeal both rulings. A Google spokesperson stated via email, “The adjustments we implemented in 2017 are functioning effectively, without intervention from the European Commission. The number of price comparison sites in Europe utilizing the Shopping Unit remedy has surged from seven to 1,550 today.”
The company further stated that it extends the same opportunity to rival comparison shopping services as Google Shopping for displaying advertisements. Google Shopping, it said, operates independently, engaging in auctions like any other entity.
This ruling closely follows an EU investigation into the impact of Google’s spam policy on publishers’ search rankings. Recently, the EU fined the company €2.95 billion (just under $3.5 billion) for allegedly infringing EU antitrust regulations by favoring its own advertising services.
Note: This story was updated to add a comment from Google.
