Google Ordered to Pay €573M in German Antitrust Case
Google has been hit with a €573 million ($666 million) penalty by a Berlin court, compensating two German price-comparison platforms for antitrust violations. The ruling stems from a 2017 EU decision that found the tech giant abused its search dominance to favor its own shopping services.
Idealo, owned by Axel Springer, will receive €465 million including interest, while Producto GmbH gets €107.4 million. Both had sought significantly higher damages—€3.3 billion and €290 million respectively—but the court dismissed these as 'exorbitant.'
The judgment builds on a €2.4 billion EU fine against Google that was upheld last year, allowing affected companies to bypass reproving wrongdoing in subsequent claims. Google maintains its disagreement with the verdict while acknowledging the reduced liability.
