A court ruling in Sweden has forced Google to pay around $1,5 billion to PriceRunner, a price comparison platform owned by Klarna, for violating antitrust laws.
The award, which amounts to almost 14,3 billion Swedish kronor, marks a significant development in the context of increasing scrutiny of American technology companies in Europe. Notably, it is the highest compensation ever awarded by a Swedish court in a competition case, although it is significantly lower than the initial claim of 78 billion kronor made by PriceRunner.
"Although PriceRunner did not achieve a complete legal victory, the damages awarded are undoubtedly unprecedented for Swedish competition law cases," said Judge Linda Kulberg.
- In 2022, PriceRunner sued Google for around €2,1 billion, alleging that Google was manipulating search results. This move followed Google's loss in an appeal against a €2,42 billion fine by the EU in 2017, due to an unfair advantage in its own price comparison service over other smaller European competitors.
A Google spokesperson said that changes have been made to shopping ads since 2017, which have a positive impact on the market and job creation for price comparison services.
"We disagree with the court's decision and are exploring further legal options," the spokesman for the American giant added.
PriceRunner, which it acquired from Klarna in 2022, had been seeking compensation for lost profits in Britain since 2008 and in Sweden and Denmark since 2013.
Klarna welcomed the court ruling as a positive development, although it will appeal. Its legal team was not immediately available for comment.
The impact of the decision was immediate, with shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company, falling about 0,4% in pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while Klarna shares rose about 7,5%.
With information from Reuters via APE-MPA
Stockholm, Sweden
