Google to face massive UK class action lawsuit over search dominance

Nov 25, 2024 11:11 PM - 1 week ago 16182

Google must look a £7 cardinal (around $8.8 billion) people action suit successful the UK that accuses the institution of harming consumers by abusing its power successful search. On Friday, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that the lawsuit tin move forward, adding to the increasing number of ineligible conflicts Google has to face worldwide.

The people action lawsuit was initially revenge successful September 2023 by user authorities advocator Nikki Stopford. It alleges that Google’s anticompetitive practices made it much costly for companies to advertise connected the platform, starring to higher prices for millions of consumers crossed the UK.

The suit argues that Google “forced” Android telephone makers to vessel their phones pinch Google Search and Google Chrome, thing the European Union has already gone aft Google for. It besides says Google paid Apple “billions” to make Google the default hunt engine connected Safari — an rumor that figured prominently successful a recent ruling against Google successful the US.

“Google continues to rig the search-engine marketplace to complaint advertisers more, which raises the prices they complaint consumers,” Stopford said successful a statement. “This UK ineligible action seeks to beforehand healthier title successful integer markets, and to clasp Google accountable.”

Google asked a London tribunal to flip retired the lawsuit successful September, but the CAT now unanimously agreed that it should proceed. “We still judge this lawsuit is speculative and opportunistic — we will reason against it vigorously,” Paul Colpitts, Google UK’s elder counsel, said successful an emailed connection to The Verge. “People usage Google because it is helpful; not because location are nary alternatives.”

Google is presently the taxable of respective lawsuits, including 1 from the US Department of Justice that could unit Google to waste Chrome. In summation to lawsuits from Epic Games and Yelp, the hunt elephantine is facing much ineligible problem from the DOJ complete its advertizing technology. It besides precocious mislaid an entreaty to get astir a $2.7 cardinal antitrust fine successful the EU.

Update, November 25th: Added a connection from Google.