British judges on Wednesday ruled that Google must face a class action from thousands of businesses in the United Kingdom over its alleged anti-competitive behavior in the digital advertising space.
Ad Tech Collective Action LLP, the entity formed for the purposes of the lawsuit, is seeking damages equivalent to $17.4 billion from Google for allegedly abusing its market dominance. The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal said on Wednesday that the case may proceed to trial.
Google’s dominance over digital advertising has been the subject of growing regulatory scrutiny in recent years. It’s the subject of one of two major cases from the U.S. Department of Justice over the company’s alleged monopolistic practices. The European Union threatened to penalize Google with another hefty fine last summer if it didn’t break up its ad tech business in what’s proven to be an ongoing struggle between the company and regulators in Europe.
“This is a decision of major importance to the victims of Google’s anti-competitive conduct in ad tech,” Claudio Pollack, a partner of Ad Tech Collection Action LLP, said in an emailed statement to Quartz responding to the ruling. “Google will now have to answer for its practices in a full trial.”
Google did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment but told Reuters, “This lawsuit is speculative and opportunistic. We’ll oppose it vigorously and on the facts.”