German Court Hits Google With $665M Antitrust Penalty

A German court has ordered Google to pay €572 million ($665.6 million) in damages to rival shopping portals Idealo and Producto after ruling that the tech giant abused its dominant market position in the price comparison sector, according to a recent report by Reuters.

How the €572 Million Damages Award Is Split

The landmark ruling divides the total damages between the two German plaintiffs. Google must pay approximately €465 million (around $540 million) to the price comparison platform Idealo, while Producto, another competing search tool, was awarded €107 million (about $124 million).

The legal battle stems from a massive €3.3 billion damages claim originally filed by Idealo. The platform based its lawsuit on a pivotal 2024 European Court of Justice ruling, which upheld a $2.7 billion antitrust fine against Google for self-preferencing its own shopping comparison service over competitors in search results.

Idealo Vows to Pursue the Full €3.3 Billion Claim

Despite securing a multi-million euro judgment, Idealo said it intends to press forward with its legal campaign to recover the full damages originally sought in court.

“We welcome the court holding Google accountable. But the consequences of self-favoring go far beyond the amount awarded,” said Albrecht von Sonntag, co-founder of Idealo, in an official statement. “We will continue to fight – because market abuse must have consequences and must not become a lucrative business model that is worthwhile despite fines and compensation payments.”

Google Rejects the Ruling and Announces Appeal

Google has confirmed its intention to appeal both court decisions, defending its current market practices and highlighting past remedies implemented to satisfy regulators.

“The changes we made in 2017 are working well, with no intervention from the European Commission. The number of price comparison sites in Europe using the remedy Shopping Unit has multiplied from seven then to 1,550 today,” a Google spokesperson stated via email.

The search giant maintains that it provides rival comparison shopping engines with the exact same opportunities as Google Shopping to display product ads. According to the company, Google Shopping operates as an independent business entity that participates in ad auctions on equal terms with external competitors.

Escalating Antitrust Headwinds for Google in Europe

This German court decision adds to a growing wave of regulatory and legal challenges targeting Google’s business model across Europe. The ruling closely follows an active European Union investigation into how Google’s spam policies impact search rankings for digital publishers.

Additionally, the EU recently hit Google with a separate €2.95 billion (nearly $3.5 billion) antitrust fine. In that case, European regulators concluded that the company breached competition laws by systematically favoring its own proprietary advertising services over those of third-party rivals.