Google calls on tribunal to dismiss $9.3 billion UK lawsuit over search engine dominance

Google’s parent company Alphabet asked a London court on Wednesday to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the tech giant of abusing its dominant position in the internet search market.

Conclusions:

• Google’s parent company Alphabet has asked a London court to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the internet giant of abusing its dominant position in the search engine industry.
• The lawsuit, which is estimated to be worth up to 7 billion pounds ($9.3 billion), is the latest to focus on the business practices of Google, which is currently facing a major antitrust trial in the United States over its online advertising business.
• Part of the lawsuit is based on a fine of more than 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) imposed on Google in 2018 by the European Commission for imposing restrictions on makers of Android mobile devices. The tech company has appealed the decision.

Google calls for UK lawsuit to be dismissed

Google parent company Alphabet asked a London tribunal on Wednesday to throw out a class action lawsuit that claimed the tech giant exploited its dominant market position in internet search.

With a potential value of up to £7 billion ($9.3 billion), the lawsuit is the latest to focus on Google’s business practices. The company is now the subject of a significant antitrust case in the United States over its online advertising business.

It is also one of several multi-billion pound cases brought before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal in recent years, according to the report, including a similar case against Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the online advertising market.

Consumer rights activist and group representative in the lawsuit, Nikki Stopford, argues that Google’s dominant position allows it to increase the costs of its search advertising services for businesses, which are then passed on to consumers.

Google fined €4 billion ($4.5 billion)

Part of the lawsuit is based on a fine of more than 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) imposed on Google in 2018 by the European Commission for imposing restrictions on makers of Android mobile devices. The tech company has appealed the decision.

Stopford’s lawyers also allege that Google entered into an anti-competitive agreement with Apple under which the search engine would be the default search engine on Apple’s Safari browser in exchange for a share of advertising revenue on Google’s mobile search engine.

Lawyers have asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case so it can proceed to trial, a very early step in any mass lawsuit. But Google says the case is seriously flawed.

“We categorically reject the suggestion that consumers suffered harm as a result of Google’s challenged conduct,” Meredith Pickford, a Google attorney, said in court documents.

Pickford added that the European Commission’s findings were simply “technical complaints about the specific way in which Google promoted its products.”

He also said Google’s deal with Apple on the default search engine is “in principle completely legal.”

Google Chrome users’ complaint revived

US Court of Appeals he ruled that Google must respond to a new complaint from Google Chrome users who say that after they failed to sync their browsers with their Google accounts, the company collected their personal data without their consent.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a lower court judge who dismissed the proposed class action should have assessed whether it had merit Chrome users you have consented to Google collecting data about your browsing activities.