Google Sued for EUR 2.1 Billion by Sweden’s PriceRunner
Swedish worth comparability web site PriceRunner mentioned Monday it was suing tech large Google for EUR 2.1 billion (roughly Rs. 17,930 crore) for selling its personal procuring comparisons in search outcomes.
Europe has cracked down on the enterprise practices of Big Tech in recent times, whereas the EU is transferring ahead with laws to tighten regulation. US behemoths are dealing with dealing with fines and authorized challenges in lots of European nations.
The Swedish tech startup mentioned it anticipated the “final damages amount of the lawsuit to be significantly higher”, on condition that “the violation is still ongoing.”
Chief govt Mikael Lindahl mentioned the lawsuit was additionally a struggle “for consumers who have suffered tremendously from Google’s infringement of the competition law for the past fourteen years and still today”.
The Swedish tech startup filed its swimsuit with the Patent and Market Court in Stockholm after the European Union General Court dominated that Google “breached EU antitrust laws by manipulating search results in favour of their own comparison shopping services.”
In November, the EU court docket upheld a EUR-2.4-billion (roughly Rs. 20,490 crore) wonderful the European Commission had slapped on Google in 2017, saying outcomes from Google’s personal comparability service had been “displayed in a more eye-catching manner.”
PriceRunner mentioned it was searching for damages for earnings it misplaced in Britain since 2008 in addition to in Sweden and Denmark since 2013.
PriceRunner mentioned Google had a “monopoly-like position” throughout the European Economic Area (EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), with over 90 % of the market share for web search engines like google and yahoo.
The worth comparability web site is predicated in Sweden but additionally operates in Denmark, Norway, and the UK. It has beforehand mentioned it plans to increase to extra international locations.
In November, Swedish fintech Klarna purchased PriceRunner for an undisclosed sum, with media reviews placing the worth at over $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,540 crore).
