Google has been ordered by a German court to pay $665.6 million in damages for abusing its dominant position in the price comparison sector. The ruling requires Google to pay $540 million to Idealo and $124 million to Producto, two German price comparison platforms. Idealo had originally claimed $3.6 billion in damages, citing the 2024 European Court of Justice ruling that found Google self-preferenced its own shopping service, breaking competition rules and incurring a $2.7 billion fine.
Idealo Co-Founder Albrecht von Sonntag said, “We welcome the court holding Google accountable. But the consequences of self-favoring go far beyond the amount awarded. We will continue to fight because market abuse must have consequences and must not become a lucrative business model.”
Google said it plans to appeal both rulings. A company spokesperson stated, “The changes we made in 2017 are working well, with no intervention from the European Commission. The number of price comparison sites in Europe using the remedy Shopping Unit has multiplied from seven then to 1,550 today.” Google added that rival comparison services have the same opportunity as Google Shopping to display ads, noting that the platform operates independently and participates in auctions like other businesses. The decision follows an EU investigation into Google’s spam policy and a recent $3.5 billion fine for allegedly favoring its own advertising services, highlighting ongoing scrutiny of the company’s practices in Europe.
