Google may have to pay two German companies more than 572 million euros, or about $665 million, for “market abuse,” according to a recent ruling by a Berlin court. first reported reutersThe tech giant was ordered to pay about 465 million euros, or about $540 million, to Idealo, and another 107 million euros, or about $124 million, to Producto, both price comparison platforms based in Germany. According to the ruling, Google abused its dominant market position by favoring Google Shopping in its own search results.
Idiolo took legal action against Google, claiming that the Alphabet subsidiary was “giving itself priority” to its own platforms, which led to an unfair market advantage that hindered competitors. The company had first sought compensation of at least 3.3 billion euros, or more than $3.8 billion, through February 2025. To combat this, Google said it made changes in 2017 that allowed competing shopping platforms the opportunity to display ads through Google Search, similar to Google Shopping.
Idiolo said in a press release that he would continue legal pressure on Google, claiming that “the amount awarded represents only a fraction of the actual damages.” Albrecht von Sonntag, co-founder and member of Idealo’s advisory board, said in a press release that “abuse of dominance must have consequences and should not be a profitable business model that pays regardless of fines and damages.”
This is not the first time Google has been in legal trouble in Europe. In addition to Google Shopping, Google was accused of favoring its own Google Flights and Google Hotels in search results, leading the EU to threaten massive fines for violating its Digital Markets Act. A month ago, the European Commission fined Google nearly 3 billion euros, or more than $3.4 billion, for anti-competitive practices in the ad tech industry.