Google faces damages claims worth up to $10 billion after record EU fines

BRUSSELS: A decades-long crackdown on Google's business practices in Europe has entered a costly new phase, as the tech giant's loss of the first case brought against it under new EU legislation has opened the door to a wave of private lawsuits demanding up to $10 billion in damages.

Having already paid billions of dollars in EU fines since 2017, Alphabet's search giant is now facing lawsuits from smaller rivals across Europe, according to half a dozen lawyers and litigation financiers, along with a tally of cases filed in several countries.

The latest wave follows a $1 billion fine, the first imposed under the Digital Markets Act, for favouring Google's own services and preventing app developers from directing users to cheaper options outside its Google Play app store.

Lawyers say the finding of ongoing wrongdoing could embolden more parties to sue. "I think this will trigger a new wave of litigation," said Thomas Hoppner, a partner at Geradin Partners, which advised German price comparison platform Idealo in its market abuse case.

A Berlin court awarded Idealo €465 million ($528.9 million) in damages in November, the largest sum ever awarded by a German court for an antitrust infringement. Hoppner said specialised search firms may now seek damages not only for the DMA-era period but also for years prior, under Article 102, older EU legislation prohibiting the abuse of a dominant market position.

Google has rejected the claims. "We strongly disagree with these lawsuits, which are brought by companies looking for a payout instead of investing in their own products," a company spokesperson said.

Mounting pressure amid AI spending

The damages claims arrive as Google's AI spending spree has strained its finances, with Alphabet posting negative free cash flow in the second quarter for the first time as a public company.

The claims also stack on top of €10.4 billion in EU-led fines against Google over the past decade, as regulators maintain a tough stance on Big Tech. Lawyers and litigation financing firms say more private cases are being prepared and have yet to be filed.

The roots of the dispute trace back to 2008, when Google began promoting its own comparison shopping service in search results, causing traffic to rival price comparison sites to plunge. This triggered complaints and an EU investigation that resulted in a €2.42 billion fine in 2017. Google contested the ruling but lost at Europe's top court last year.

Britain's Foundem pursued its claim from the outset, while Sweden's PriceRunner, backed by Klarna, filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit in 2022 after Google's appeal was rejected.

UK price comparison site Kelkoo, which is seeking billions of pounds from Google in separate damages claims stemming from the EU's shopping service ruling, said the latest fine could strengthen its ongoing case. "We expect these to be impacted somewhat by the DMA decision because it shows that Google is still self-referencing even to this day," Kelkoo CEO Richard Stables told Reuters, adding that the ruling gives other companies stronger grounds to sue.

Matej Pardo, chief operating officer at litigation financing firm LitFin, which is backing two groups suing Google in Amsterdam over its shopping auctions for a combined total exceeding $1 billion, echoed the sentiment. "There are already a lot of these claims being filed, and probably more that are being prepared," he said.

Italy's Moltiply Group, which operates price comparison website Trovaprezzi.it, is separately seeking €2.97 billion in damages.

More fines, more claims

Last week's fine was Google's fifth and sixth overall for anti-competitive practices. Last month, the company lost a long-running battle against a record €4.1 billion EU fine over its use of the Android mobile operating system to block rivals.

Marco Pescarmona, chairman of Moltiply Group, one of the complainants against Google, said the recent DMA decision would strengthen damage claims, though he questioned Brussels' willingness to fully enforce the law if non-compliance continues. "The DMA is a very good piece of legislation. The defect maybe is that it's so effective that they're afraid to use it," he said.

Lawyers say Google is counting on time working in its favour, given that such cases can drag on for years, and the company may yet challenge the DMA fine. In the shopping case, nearly two decades passed between the alleged abuses and the exhaustion of Google's appeals. "By that time, they've already monopolised many markets," said LitFin's Pardo, calling the fines "a cost of doing business" and noting that wait times for resolution could stretch up to eight years.

In the PriceRunner case, a Stockholm court ordered Google in July to pay roughly $1.97 billion including interest — a ruling Klarna welcomed, though it does not expect to collect anytime soon. "We can expect an appeal to take over a year, and likely years," said Klarna's counsel, Pontus Scherp.

Google's EU fines over the past decade

Google has been fined over €10 billion by the EU over the last decade, according to a breakdown of major penalties:

• 2017: €2.42 billion — for favouring its comparison shopping service. Google lost its final appeal in 2024.

• 2018: €4.34 billion — for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals. EU courts trimmed the fine to €4.1 billion in 2022.

• 2019: €1.49 billion — over clauses in AdSense for Search contracts with website publishers that disadvantaged rivals. The EU court threw out this fine in 2024.

• 2025: €2.95 billion — for anti-competitive practices in its adtech business. Google's appeal is currently in court.

• 2026: €890 million — for favouring its own services in search results and preventing app developers from steering users to their own sites, rival app stores, or third-party sites. Google is expected to appeal.