UK couple wins 15-year-long battle against Google, to receive £2.4B
In a major setback, Google has been ordered to pay a hefty £2.4 billion (approximately ₹26,172 crore) fine, after losing a 15-year-long legal battle against a UK couple. The case revolved around allegations of market dominance abuse in relation to Google's shopping comparison service. Even though Google appealed the original 2017 fine imposed by the European Commission at the European Court of Justice, its appeal was dismissed in September this year.
Foundem founders' allegations against Google
The legal battle was won by Shivaun Raff and her husband Adam, founders of the price comparison website Foundem. They alleged that their site was unfairly penalized by a Google search penalty, triggered by an automatic spam filter. This penalty reportedly pushed their site down in search results for relevant queries such as "price comparison" and "comparison shopping," severely restricting its visibility to potential users.
Struggle and eventual closure
Despite repeated requests to Google over two years, the Raffs alleged that the restriction on their site was never lifted. This inaction resulted in a drastic drop in Foundem's traffic while other search engines continued to rank it normally. The couple eventually had to shut down Foundem in 2016 due to these issues but are now pursuing a civil damages claim against Google, which is set for trial in early 2026.
European Commission's antitrust investigation against Google
The Rafffs's case picked up steam in 2010 when they approached the European Commission. A detailed antitrust investigation found that Google had unfairly promoted its own shopping service over competitors such as Foundem. In 2017, the Commission ruled that Google had abused its market dominance and imposed a fine of £2.4 billion, the largest penalty ever imposed by the Commission at the time.
Google's response to the ruling
In response to the European Commission's ruling, Google had said it made changes in 2017 to comply with the decision. The tech giant claimed its approach has successfully generated billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services over seven years. However, this statement did not change the outcome of their legal battle with the Raffs.
