A British couple’s legal battle against Google’s search practices has concluded.
Europe’s highest court upheld a €2.4 billion fine against Google, marking a victory for small businesses in the digital marketplace.
Background
Shivaun and Adam Raff launched Foundem, a price comparison website, in June 2006.
On launch day, Google’s automated spam filters hit the site, pushing it deep into search results and cutting off its primary traffic source.
“Google essentially disappeared us from the internet,” says Shivaun Raff.
The search penalties remained in place despite Foundem later being recognized by Channel 5’s The Gadget Show as the UK’s best price comparison website.
From Complaint To Major Investigation
After two years of unanswered appeals to Google, the Raffs took their case to regulators.
Their complaint led to a European Commission investigation in 2010, which revealed similar issues affecting approximately 20 other comparison shopping services, including Kelkoo, Trivago, and Yelp.
The investigation concluded in 2017 with the Commission ruling that Google had illegally promoted its comparison shopping service while demoting competitors, resulting in the €2.4 billion fine.
Here’s a summary of what happened next.
Timeline: From Initial Fine to Final Ruling (2017-2024)
2017
European Commission issues €2.4 billion fine against Google
Google implements changes to its shopping search results
Google files initial appeal against the ruling
2021
General Court of the European Union upholds the fine
Google launches second appeal to the European Court of Justice
2024 March