Tech giant Google will have to pay a penalty of €2.4 billion, equivalent to ₹26,000 crore after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently found it guilty of abusing market power, reported Fortune India. The September order decreed that Google exercised dominance and favoured its shopping services over those of its competitors. This comes as a setback for the tech major and good news for UK entrepreneurs Shivaun and Adam Raff, whose price comparison website Foundem bore the brunt of biased search algorithms.
The European Court upheld the European Commission’s 2017 ruling over antitrust violations. After multiple appeals, the ECJ reinforced the Commission’s ruling. This marks a significant precedent in regulating Big Tech practices. On a UK-based radio, the couple recently recounted details of their 15-year legal battle.
Let’s take a look at what happened over the years.
The couple launched Foundem in 2006 to help users find deals on electronics, flights, and other goods.
However, to their dismay, their website seemed difficult to trace on Google’s search results, negatively affecting Foundem’s traffic and revenue which was dependent on affiliate clicks through its product listings.
Initially, Adam Raff perceived this to have be an error which had been mistakenly flagged as spam by the search engine’s automated filters. Despite repeated appeals, Google failed to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, the site’s performance remained unaffected on other search engines. The couple soon suspected foul play.
Foundem gained spotlight in December 2008 after Channel 5’s The Gadget Show named it the “Best Price Comparison Website in the UK.” The site slowed down over time and didn’t restore its speed even after the couple approached Google with repeated requests. Subsequently the couple filed complaints with regulators in the UK, the US, and eventually the European Union, reported Fortune India.
After the European Commission initiated an antitrust investigation into Google’s practices, it was observed that similar issues surfaced with 20 other companies as well, including Kelkoo, Trivago, and Yelp. Investigations revealed that search result visibility of competitors was hampered as Google favoured its services. Consequently, a fine of £2.4 billion was imposed on Google in the landmark case pertaining to regulation of Big Tech practices.
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Published: 29 Oct 2024, 10:54 PM IST
