The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm, Sweden, has ordered Google to pay 22.8 billion Swedish kronor (approximately $2.1 billion) in damages to PriceRunner. This ruling comes after PriceRunner, a price comparison service acquired by Klarna in 2022, sued Google for anti-competitive practices. The original claim made by PriceRunner was for $8.3 billion, making the awarded amount substantially less than what was sought.
The lawsuit stemmed from a 2017 European Commission decision that found Google abused its dominant position in online comparison shopping by favoring its own Google Shopping product. This decision was upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2024. PriceRunner alleged that Google's actions systematically demoted its competing services in search results, causing over a decade of quantifiable commercial damage.
Google has consistently denied the allegations, maintaining that it made substantial adjustments in 2017 to comply with EU requirements. The company stated that these changes successfully broadened participation, with the number of price comparison sites using its platform increasing significantly. Google plans to appeal the Swedish court's decision. The outcome of the proceedings remains uncertain, and any award would also be subject to appeal, sharing arrangements with former PriceRunner shareholders and Klarna's litigation funder, and applicable taxation.
