A Swedish court on Wednesday (July 1) awarded PriceRunner $1.97 billion, Klara said in a news release, calling it compensation for lost revenue from “Google’s preferential treatment” of its comparison-shopping service over similar, independent services.
“When markets work well, everyone benefits,” Dan Greaves, head of communications and policy at the Stockholm-based FinTech, said in the release.
“Consumers get higher quality at lower cost, companies stay focused on serving customers rather than defending position, and society is better off for it. This ruling supports a healthier, more competitive market for the way people compare products and services — and that is good for everyone who shops.”
Klarna noted that any award is subject to appeal by Google, and would also be reduced by sharing arrangements with former PriceRunner investors “and Klarna’s litigation funder, and by applicable taxation.”
The award had been delayed three times as the court dealt with a heavy workload, PYMNTS reported last week.
PriceRunner had launched the suit before being acquired by Klarna’s in 2022, seeking about $2 billion in damages. However, the company later said that this figure would likely rise, pointing to the ongoing nature of Google’s alleged violations
During a three-month trial last year, PriceRunner had sought $8.3 billion in antitrust damages. The company’s claim followed a decision by the European Commission decision in 2017, which found Google abused its dominance in online comparison shopping. The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld that decision in 2024.
“PriceRunner alleges that Google systematically demoted competing price comparison services in its search results while favoring its own Google Shopping product, causing sustained and quantifiable commercial damage to PriceRunner over more than a decade,” Klarna said in a February press release.
Google has argued that it made major adjustments in 2017 to meet EU requirements. The company said those changes have successfully expanded participation, with the number of price comparison sites using its platform jumping from seven at the time to 1,550 in October.
Google parent Alphabet noted in a recent regulatory filing that it is dealing with antitrust proceedings, private individual and collective actions in the U.S., throughout Europe and in additional jurisdictions.
“We believe we have strong arguments against these open claims and will defend ourselves vigorously,” that filing said.
