Google is facing a class action lawsuit in the UK, earning potential damages for £5 billion ($6.6 billion) for allegations that the tech giant has abused tensions in the search market to raise advertising prices.
CNBC Report A class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the UK’s Court of Competitive Appeals alleges that Google abuses its position limiting competing search engines and strengthening its dominant position in the market, making it the only viable destination for online search ads. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of UK-based organizations that used Google’s search advertising services from January 2011 until the request was filed.
Google previously lost its anti-trust lawsuit in the US, finding that the tech giant has illegally held its search and text ad monopoly over the past decade.
The UK lawsuit led by Competition Law Academic or Brook and represented by law firm Geradin Partners claims Google has taken several steps to limit the competition in searches. This includes entering your deal with smartphone makers to preinstall Google Search and Chrome on your Android device, paying Apple billions to make sure Google is the default search engine for Safari browsers, and making sure you use your own advertising products to provide better functionality compared to your competitors.
A 2020 market survey by the UK’s competition regulator, Competitive Markets Agency (CMA), found that 90% of all revenue in the search advertising market is acquired by Google. Brook said, “Today, businesses and organizations in the UK, big and small, have few options other than using Google Ads to promote their products and services. Regulators around the world describe Google as a monopoly and keeping a spot on Google’s homepage is essential for visibility.”
Google calls the case “yet another speculative and opportunistic case” and plans to “actively debate against it.” “Consumers and advertisers use Google not because they don’t have alternatives, but because they’re useful.” A spokesperson told CNBC.
The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge for the American tech giant as the large U.S. technology companies, from Google to META, are hit by numerous lawsuits, regulatory investigations and fines that have led to fines for concerns surrounding their power and influence. In 2018, Google was fined 4.3 billion euros ($4.9 billion) by the European Union for misusing the advantages of the Android mobile operating system, and seven years later the company is still suing antitrust penalties.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News, which covers the issues of freedom of speech and online censorship.
