Google Takes on $17 Billion Lawsuit in UK Over Adtech Practices

In the most recent case to centre on the search engine giant’s business practices, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has asked a London tribunal to prevent a class action lawsuit accusing it of abusing its dominance in the internet advertising industry.

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In the complaint, publishers of UK-based websites and applications argue they have lost money as a result of Google’s alleged anticompetitive actions, and they are seeking damages of up to 13.6 billion pounds ($16.9 billion).

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Legal Battle Heats Up

At the beginning of a three-day hearing on Wednesday, attorneys representing Ad Tech Collective Action requested that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) certify the case so that it can move forward with a trial. Google, on the other hand, claimed that the case lacked coherence and did not clarify how the publishers had allegedly suffered losses as a result of purported anticompetitive behaviour. The London complaint, according to attorney Robert O’Donoghue of Ad Tech Collective Action, is “the latest in a series of major set-preferencing abuse cases involving Google.”

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Google in Legal Crosshairs: Regulators Probe Adtech, Imminent Fines

The situation is investigate by several regulatory bodies, including the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority of Britain. O’Donoghue stated that these investigations would soon come to an end.

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O’Donoghue also brought up the two multibillion-euro fines Google had to pay the European Commission for its online retail search engine and for forcing its Chrome browser and Google Search to pre-install on Android smartphones.

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Tech Giants Face Legal Scrutiny in CAT Cases

In the United States, Google is also defending itself against two lawsuits alleging anticompetitive behaviour from the Department of Justice and Texas and other states. Lawyers for the corporation stated in court records related to the CAT lawsuit that it “strongly rejects the underlying allegations against it”. “Google has greatly increased competition in the ad tech industry.”

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The CAT, which has already this year certified a $3.8 billion case against Facebook parent Meta and a roughly $1 billion case against Apple, is the newest target of Ad Tech Collective Action’s proposed complaint.

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