According to Gizchina, the lawsuit accuses Google of abusing its dominance in online search advertising to limit competition and push up advertising prices.
The lawsuit was filed in the UK Court of Competition on 16 April by competition law expert Or Brook, under the representative of Geradin Partners. The target of the lawsuit is hundreds of thousands of organizations in the UK that have used Google's search advertising service since January 1, 2011 to the present.
Ms. Brook said that currently, businesses in the UK, regardless of their scale, have almost no choice but to use Google advertising to reach customers. She emphasized that being on Google's front pages is extremely important to ensure a presence in the market.
She also accused Google of taking advantage of its dominance in the search and advertising market to charge advertising fees that were too high. The lawsuit aims to hold Google accountable for its alleged illegal behavior and requires compensation for UK advertisers who have suffered losses, she said.
Google dismissed the allegations, saying it was a "speculative and opportunity" lawsuit. A Google spokesperson asserted that both consumers and advertisers choose Google because of its useful service, not because there are no other options. The company also said it would strongly opposed the lawsuit.
The database used in the lawsuit includes the 2020 research results of the UK Competition and Market Authority (CMA), which showed that Google accounted for up to 90% of UK search advertising revenue. The lawsuit documents Google's strategies such as signing deals with phone companies to pre- install Chrome browsers and Google search engines, as well as paying Apple to keep Google as the default tool on Safari.
In addition, Google's Search Ads 360 advertising tool is accused of operating more effectively with the company's internal services than competing platforms, further stifling competition.
The lawsuit is part of a growing wave of legal action against large technology corporations. Google is also seeking a European Union fine of €4.3 billion for the Android operating system, while Microsoft and Meta are also facing antitrust lawsuits in the UK and US.
