Google is being sued in the UK for up to £5 billion (around $6.6 billion) in a class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of abusing its dominance in online search to charge advertisers higher prices.
The case was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday and claims that Google used its powerful position in the market to unfairly raise the cost of search ads. According to the lawsuit, Google made deals with phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android phones. It also paid Apple to make Google the default search engine on iPhones. These moves, the claim argues, were aimed at blocking competition.
The lawsuit was brought by competition law expert Or Brook on behalf of thousands of businesses. It alleges that Google designed its search engine to work better with its own advertising tools than with those of its rivals, giving itself an unfair advantage.
A Google spokesperson dismissed the case, calling it “yet another speculative and opportunistic case.” They added, “Consumers and advertisers use Google because it’s helpful, not because they’re forced to.”
However, Brook argued that many businesses had little choice but to use Google Ads to stay visible online. “Regulators around the world have called Google a monopoly,” she said. “Getting your business on Google’s top search pages is crucial. Google has taken advantage of its dominant position to overcharge advertisers.”
Back in January, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began investigating Google’s search services and how they impact advertising. The regulator noted that Google is responsible for 90% of online searches in the UK and is used by over 200,000 UK businesses for advertising.
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