German court slaps Google with €572m damages for antitrust abuse in shopping sector

A Berlin court has delivered a major legal and financial blow to Google, ordering the tech giant to pay a combined total of €572 million (approximately $665 million) in damages to two German price comparison platforms for abusing its dominant market position.

The ruling, announced by the Berlin Regional Court, found that Google engaged in anti-competitive practices by systematically favoring its own Google Shopping service over rival price comparison websites in its search results for over a decade.

A victory for competitors

The significant payout is the result of two separate civil claims brought as "follow-on" actions after the European Union's landmark antitrust decision in 2017. The damages awarded are allocated as follows:

• Idealo: The court awarded the price comparison platform, a subsidiary of the German media group Axel Springer, approximately €465 million (including interest).

• Producto: The company behind another German comparison site, Producto GmbH, was awarded the remaining €107 million.

Idealo, which had initially demanded €3.3 billion, celebrated the accountability but stated the awarded amount "reflects only a fraction of the actual damage."

"We will continue to fight because abuse of dominance must have consequences and must not become a lucrative business model that pays off despite fines and damages payments." Albrecht von Sonntag, Co-founder of Idealo, noted.

Setting a new European precedent

This decision is significant because it marks the first time a German civil court has held a major technology company liable for such a large-scale antitrust violation following a confirmed EU competition breach.

The German court's decision relies directly on the European Commission's 2017 finding, which fined Google €2.4 billion for breaching competition laws. The court focused solely on quantifying the financial harm suffered by the German plaintiffs, setting a crucial precedent that will likely embolden other companies across the bloc to file similar private damages claims against Google.

Google vows to appeal

Google's parent company, Alphabet, has strongly rejected the court's findings and has vowed to appeal both decisions.

A Google spokesperson stated the company had already made substantial changes in 2017 to comply with European law, claiming those remedies have proven successful. They highlighted that the number of rival price comparison sites using Google's Shopping Unit remedy has allegedly increased from seven to over 1,500 across Europe.

However, the German court's verdict emphasizes that even changes implemented after an initial regulatory finding do not erase the financial losses suffered by competitors during the years of market abuse.