Sweden’s Patent and Market Court ruled that Google had abused its position for several years by favouring its own price comparison tool over rivals. (EPA Images pic) STOCKHOLM: US tech giant Google said Wednesday it would appeal a Swedish anti-trust court order that it pay US$1.5 billion to the PriceRunner site for illegally favouring its own price comparison service. The July 1 award was one of the biggest made by a court in a European country.
Google’s media service told AFP in a message that the group would appeal. Swedish fintech group Klarna, which owns PriceRunner, has said it will also appeal as it believes the award should be higher. Klarna’s chief legal officer Boudien Moerman said Google’s appeal had been expected.
But he added in a statement: “PriceRunner has filed an appeal, as we believe the July 1 judgement does not fully reflect the damages suffered over many years, despite the court’s unequivocal and well-reasoned decision on liability. “A healthier, more competitive market benefits everyone who shops, and we intend to see this through.” The Swedish group had sought 80 billion kronor (US$8.2 billion) in damages, but the court awarded PriceRunner 14.3 billion kronor in damages and 400 million kronor in interest, some US$1.5 billion in total. The Swedish group started legal action in 2022 after the EU’s top court ruled that Google had breached EU competition law by manipulating search results to favour its own price comparison services.
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