Google Seeks to Exclude EU DMA Decision From Evidence in UK Shopping Damages Trial

According to Global Competition Review, Google argued that elements of the Commission’s latest DMA enforcement decision are both inadmissible and irrelevant to the issues before the UK court, where several comparison shopping companies are seeking compensation over Google’s alleged abuse of dominance in online search.

The UK litigation stems from long-running claims that Google unlawfully favored its own comparison shopping service in search results, reducing traffic to competing platforms and causing significant commercial harm. The proceedings follow years of competition enforcement in Europe over Google’s search practices and are among the largest private follow-on antitrust damages cases involving a major technology company.

The procedural dispute comes shortly after the European Commission imposed €890 million in fines on Google under the Digital Markets Act. The Commission concluded that Google breached the DMA by giving preferential treatment to its own specialized services—including shopping-related results—in Google Search and by restricting app developers’ ability to steer users toward alternative purchasing options outside Google Play.

Of the total penalty, €460 million related to Google’s treatment of competing services in search results, while €430 million addressed Google’s Play Store practices. The Commission ordered Google to ensure that competing services receive fair and non-discriminatory treatment in search rankings and presentation.

The DMA decision builds on years of European scrutiny of Google’s conduct in online search. In 2017, the European Commission fined Google €2.42 billion after finding the company had abused its dominant position by systematically favoring its own comparison shopping service over rivals. That decision was later upheld by the European Union’s courts, reinforcing the Commission’s conclusion that Google’s self-preferencing distorted competition in comparison shopping markets.

Related: EU Hits Google With $1 Billion Fine in First Digital Markets Act Penalty

The UK proceedings, however, focus on whether Google’s conduct caused financial losses to rival comparison shopping providers and, if so, the level of damages that should be awarded. Claimants including Kelkoo, Foundem, Connexity and other comparison shopping businesses allege Google’s practices diverted traffic and weakened competition over many years. Google disputes those allegations, maintaining that its search products evolved to improve consumer experience and that competitors’ commercial difficulties cannot be attributed solely to its conduct.

According to Global Competition Review, Google contends that the Commission’s recent DMA non-compliance findings concern a separate legal framework from the issues before the UK court. The DMA, which came into force to regulate designated “gatekeeper” digital platforms, imposes ex ante obligations on large technology companies, whereas much of the UK litigation concerns alleged infringements under traditional competition law.

Competition authorities have increasingly relied on both antitrust enforcement and the DMA to address concerns over market concentration and self-preferencing by dominant digital platforms. The Commission has described the DMA as a tool designed to ensure that gatekeepers do not use their control over core platform services to disadvantage competing businesses.

Google has said it intends to appeal the Commission’s DMA decision, arguing that some of the required changes would reduce the usefulness of its search products and negatively affect European users and businesses. The European Commission, meanwhile, has ordered Google to bring its services into compliance with the DMA while the UK damages proceedings continue before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Source: Global Competition Review