In the United Kingdom, Alphabet’s Google faces a class action lawsuit with potential damages reaching up to GBP 5 billion ($6.6 billion or approximately Rs. 56,536 crore), alleging that the tech giant has exploited its dominant position in the online search market.
The lawsuit, submitted to the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claims that Google’s practices allowed it to inflate prices for advertisements displayed in search results compared to a more competitive market scenario.
The filing highlights that Google has made agreements with smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices, as well as paying Apple to designate it as the default search engine on iPhones, with the goal of sidelining competitors.
Or Brook, a specialist in competition law representing numerous businesses, argues that Google ensured its search engine provided superior functionality and features for its own advertising compared to those of rival services.
In response, Google dismissed the lawsuit as “yet another speculative and opportunistic case.” A spokesperson stated, “We will argue against it vigorously. Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives.”
Brook, however, countered that businesses feel compelled to use Google Ads for promoting their products and services.
“Regulators globally have labeled Google a monopoly, and gaining a top position on Google’s search pages is crucial for visibility,” she commented in a statement.
Moreover, Brook emphasized that Google has been using its dominance in the general search and advertising market to charge advertisers excessively.
The UK’s antitrust authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, commenced an investigation into Google’s search services in January, scrutinizing their effects on advertising markets.
At that time, the regulatory body noted that millions of individuals and businesses depend on Google’s services, which account for 90 percent of all searches and are utilized by over 200,000 businesses in the UK for advertising purposes.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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