The tech giant Google has lost a lengthy 15-year-old legal battle against a couple in the European Court of Justice, forcing the company to pay a hefty sum of ₹26,172 Cr.
The seed of the issue was planted in 2006 when UK entrepreneurs Shivaun and Adam Raff quit their jobs to launch ‘Foundem’, a price comparison website that competed directly with Google Shopping.
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Soon enough, the founders began to notice a massive dip in their Google search ranking results, leading them to assume that it was some kind of error.
But after repeated complaints to Google, with no response in return, the couple soon realised that foul play might be involved.
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They began to suspect that the tech giant might be downgrading competing services to promote its own.
The couple filed a complaint with the European Commission in the matter. They were also forced to close ‘Foundem’ in 2016, for which they are pursuing a civil damage claim against Google.
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The European Commission launched an investigation on the matter, accusing Google of abusing its market dominance in 2017. Google’s appeal against the decision was rejected at the European Court of Justice in September.
Google has come forward to state the decision as ‘disappointing’, further saying that it has since adjusted its practices to comply with regulations, helping numerous comparison services.
The decision by the European Court of Justice is commendable as it helps break the monopoly of Google, giving better thriving opportunities to smaller businesses and startups.
It also acts as a reminder to big tech companies to reevaluate their practices to create a level playing field for everyone.
