Google faces $6 billion lawsuit in the UK for dominating search and ‘overcharging’ advertisers

Google is being sued in the UK for estimated potential damages of £5 billion ($6.6 billion)  for allegedly abusing its dominant position in search advertising to overcharge advertisers.

The class action has been filed before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal by competition lawyer and University of Leeds professor Dr Or Brook on behalf of UK-based advertisers who have used Google’s ad services since January 1 2011.

Represented by law firm Geradin Partners, Brook accused Google of a monopoly and giving businesses “almost no choice” but to use Google ads and its products.

A Google spokesperson responded: “Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives.” 

The suit alleges the tech giant forces mobile phone manufacturers and network operators to pre-install Google Search and Chrome on Android devices, as well as paying Apple “billions of pounds” to set Google as the default search engine on Safari, the pre-installed browser for all Apple devices. 

It claims that Google’s alleged anti-competitive tactics ensure its default position prevent rivals from competing in the search and search advertising markets. In turn it claims this has driven up prices for search advertising.

Brook’s action seeks compensation for the “overcharge” suffered by all UK businesses that purchased advertising space on Google search pages. These organisations will automatically be part of the action unless they choose to opt out of the claim.  

Google said this was “yet another speculative and opportunistic case—and we will argue against it vigorously”. 

Brook said in a statement: "Regulators around the world have described Google as a monopoly and securing a spot on Google’s top pages is essential for visibility.

"This class action is about holding Google accountable for its unlawful practices and seeking compensation on behalf of UK advertisers who have been overcharged.”

Damien Geradin, founding partner of Geradin Partners, said: "Google is one of the most powerful companies in the world. However, through a range of deliberate and exclusionary practices, it has sought to eliminate its rivals and dominate the search advertising market, ultimately overcharging UK advertisers by billions of pounds.

“This is the first claim of its kind in the UK that seeks redress for the harm caused specifically to businesses who have been forced to pay inflated prices for advertising space on Google pages."

The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into Google’s search and search advertising services in January.

At the time, the CMA said that Google’s services accounted for 90% of searches and were used by more than 200,000 UK businesses to advertise.