Google is confronted with a £5 billion lawsuit in the UK for exploiting its dominance in online search.
Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google is facing a class action lawsuit in Britain, seeking potential damages of up to 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) for allegedly exploiting its dominating position in the internet search market.
The class action, submitted to the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, contends that Google’s conduct allowed it to impose elevated rates for adverts displayed in search queries compared to what would be feasible in a competitive market.
The U.S. technology conglomerate engaged mobile manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices and compensated Apple (AAPL.O) to designate it as the default search engine on iPhones, aiming to eliminate competition.
The lawsuit, initiated by competition law specialist Or Brook representing numerous firms, asserts that Google enhanced its search engine’s operation and features to favour its own advertising services over those of its competitors.
Google characterised this as “yet another speculative and opportunistic case.”
A spokeswoman stated, “We will contest it vigorously.” “Consumers and advertisers utilise Google due to its utility, not due to a lack of alternatives.”
Brook stated that firms had no alternative but to utilise Google AdWords for promoting their products and services.
“Regulators globally have characterised Google as a monopoly, asserting that attaining a position on Google’s premier pages is crucial for visibility,” she stated in a declaration.
“Google has been exploiting its supremacy in the general search and search advertising sectors to impose excessive charges on advertisers.”
In January, Britain’s antitrust authority initiated an investigation into Google’s search services, focussing on their influence on advertising marketplaces.
The Competition and Markets Authority stated that millions of individuals and enterprises depended on Google’s services, which constituted 90% of searches and were utilised by over 200,000 UK businesses for advertising purposes.
