Google must pay the €2.42bn fine issued by the European Commission in 2017 for abusing its dominant position by self-preferencing. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announced its final decision on the Google Shopping Case today. Google cannot re-appeal.
GOOGLE LOSES FINAL APPEAL AGAINST €2.42BN SHOPPING FINE: KELKOO GROUP CEO AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW
Kelkoo Group CEO Rich Stables said: “Today is a victory for small tech and businesses like mine – and for everyone who believes in consumer welfare. We have waited seven long years for Google to exhaust the appeals process and it’s taken 14 years in total to get legal certainty. Google’s repeated appeals and failure to change its self-preferencing practices show its disdain for the very people it claims to be creating services for – consumers who have lost out on choice and the best deals in Shopping for over a decade, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis – and small businesses like mine have been crushed. Today is also vindication for the European Commission.
“The ruling reinforces the precedent that “self-preferencing” by dominant digital platforms constitutes a violation of EU competition law, as well as under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and marks a tougher stance on all future antitrust investigations. I urge the Commission to take this win into the room when it is implementing the DMA. It is a nimble and fast-acting regulatory tool that can help the Commission achieve its objective of a level playing field in digital markets.”
Twitter: @KelkooPolicy
Blog: Kelkoo Group Policy Blog |
Kelkoo Group was a hugely successful comparison-shopping service (CSS) that helped consumers to make great shopping choices and helped online retailers to reach those consumers. However, virtually overnight, Kelkoo was taken to a cliff edge by Google’s self-preferencing behaviour.
Lead complainant in the Google Shopping Case:
We are one of the lead complainants in the Google Shopping case in Europe and have been lobbying for fair digital markets since 2011. We are in regular dialogue with global regulators who are keen to end monopolist behaviour and restore competition and consumer choice.
Today’s (10 September) decision follows the recent landmark US antitrust case about Google’s dominance in Search; it lost the case and presiding judge Mehta ruled that “Google is a monopolist and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
