Google’s mounting legal troubles in Europe have entered perilous new territory. Rivals across the continent are mobilizing to pursue private damages that could total $10 billion, capitalizing on the company’s first penalty under the Digital Markets Act.
A $1 billion DMA fine landed last week after regulators concluded Google systematically favored its own services while blocking app developers from directing users toward cheaper alternatives outside the Play Store. That finding of persistent misconduct creates a legal foundation competitors can exploit.
The cascade of claims has already produced staggering results. A Berlin court awarded German price comparison platform Idealo €465 million last November, the largest antitrust damages judgment in the nation’s history.
“I consider this will trigger a new wave of litigation,” said Thomas Hoppner, a partner at Geradin Partners, which advised Idealo in the market abuse case. Hoppner noted that specialized search firms may pursue compensation not solely for DMA violations but also for years of harm under older EU competition rules.
The financial exposure compounds an already difficult moment for Alphabet. The parent company reported negative free cash flow in the second quarter for the first time since going public, driven by aggressive AI infrastructure spending. Tech and chip stocks have simultaneously come under pressure as investors question valuations amid the spending surge.
Since 2017, EU regulators have levied €10.4 billion in fines against Google. The private litigation now unfolding spans multiple jurisdictions and stages. Some lawsuits remain in preparation, according to lawyers and litigation funders familiar with the matter.
The roots stretch back to 2008. That year, Google began pushing its own comparison shopping service prominently in search results, causing rival traffic to crater. Complaints triggered a €2.42 billion fine in 2017, which the company fought until Europe’s highest court rejected its appeal last year.
Britain’s Foundem pursued a claim from the outset. Google confirmed on Tuesday it has settled that case under confidential terms. The tech giant also resolved a separate matter with UK shopping site operator Connexity earlier this year.
Yet many more battles loom. Sweden’s PriceRunner, backed by Klarna, filed a multibillion-dollar suit in 2022. Italy’s Moltiply Group seeks €2.97 billion. UK firm Kelkoo is pursuing billions in damages, and litigation financier LitFin is backing two groups suing in Amsterdam for over $1 billion combined.
“We expect these to be impacted somewhat by the DMA decision because it displays that Google is still self-referencing even to this day,” Kelkoo CEO Richard Stables told Reuters.
Google maintains the lawsuits lack substance. A spokesperson characterized the claimants as companies chasing payouts rather than investing in their own products.
The company may lean on procedural delays as a shield. Nearly two decades elapsed between the alleged shopping abuses and Google’s exhausted appeals. In the PriceRunner case, a Stockholm court ordered roughly $1.97 billion in damages this July, but Klarna’s counsel Pontus Scherp acknowledged that collecting could take years through appeals.
LitFin executive Matej Pardo called the fines merely “a cost of doing business,” noting that wait times could stretch to eight years. Meanwhile, competitors like Moltiply’s chairman Marco Pescarmona question whether Brussels possesses the resolve to enforce the DMA fully if Google’s self-preferencing persists.
The outcome of these private actions may ultimately reshape how aggressively Europe polices platform dominance.
