A German court has determined that Google misused its dominant position in the price comparison market and has ordered the company to pay a combined €572 million ($665.6 million) in compensation to two German price comparison firms, as reported by Reuters.
According to the report, Google is required to pay around €465 million (approximately $540 million) to the price comparison site Idealo, and €107 million (about $124 million) to Producto, another comparison platform.
Idealo had sought €3.3 billion in damages from Google, stating that its legal action was prompted by the European Court of Justice’s 2024 decision, which found Google guilty of favoring its own shopping comparison service, violating competition laws, and imposed a fine of about $2.7 billion.
On Friday, Idealo announced it plans to pursue its case against Google further to recover the full amount it originally claimed.
“We appreciate the court’s decision to hold Google responsible. However, the impact of self-preferencing extends well beyond the awarded sum. Our fight will go on—market abuse must have real consequences and should not become a profitable strategy even after fines and compensation,” said Idealo co-founder and CEO Albrecht von Sonntag in a statement.
Google has stated it will challenge both verdicts. “The adjustments we implemented in 2017 are proving effective, with no need for intervention from the European Commission. The number of price comparison platforms in Europe utilizing the Shopping Unit remedy has grown from seven to 1,550 today,” a Google representative said in an emailed response.
The company also noted that it provides competing comparison shopping services with the same advertising opportunities as Google Shopping, and that Google Shopping functions independently, participating in auctions on equal terms with other services.
This judgment comes shortly after an EU probe into the effects of Google’s spam policy on publishers’ search rankings. The company was also recently fined €2.95 billion (just under $3.5 billion) by the EU for allegedly violating antitrust regulations by prioritizing its own advertising services.
Update: This article has been revised to include a statement from Google.
