Google has been fined of 2.4-billion-pound fine (approximately Rs 21,790 crore) by the European Court of Justice for overshadowing smaller companies in online shopping services.
The petition was filed by a UK-based couple – Shivaun and Adam Raff – founders of an online shopping site Foundem which was launched in 2006.
The couple accused the tech giant of misusing its power leading to a steep decline in the visibility of their website.
Speaking to BBC, Shivaun Raff said that initially, they had thought it was a technical glitch. “We just assumed we had to escalate to the right place and it would be overturned,” he said.
However, after receiving no response from Google, they approached the European Commission in 2010. From there it was a lengthy legal battle which spanned around 14 years.
During its investigations, the European Commission found that the tech giant company had unjustly prioritized its shopping services over competitors like Foundem. The Commission imposed a fine of 2.4-billion-pound on Google stating its practices disadvantaged many small online companies and limited consumer choice.
In 2024, Google responded to the accusations by approaching the European Court of Justice which dismissed Google’s allegations and upheld the fine.
Reflecting on the victory, Shivaun remarked, “We’ve both been brought up maybe under the delusion that we can make a difference, and we really don’t like bullies.”
Google response after verdict
After the verdict, Google said it had corrected the issues highlighted by the European Commission. A spokesperson told BBC, “The changes we made in 2017 to comply with the European Commission’s shopping decision have worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services.”