Swedish court orders Google to pay 1.5 billion dollars to PriceRunner

A Swedish court has ordered Google to pay approximately 1.5 billion dollars (14.3 billion Swedish kronor) to the price comparison service PriceRunner, which is owned by Klarna. The ruling concludes that Google violated antitrust laws by manipulating search results to favor its own comparison services. PriceRunner filed the lawsuit in 2022, initially seeking approximately 2.1 billion euros in damages for lost profits in the UK since 2008 and in Sweden and Denmark since 2013. Although the awarded sum is the largest ever for an antitrust case in Sweden, it is significantly lower than the 78 billion kronor requested by the plaintiff. This litigation follows the European Commission's 2017 decision to fine Google 2.42 billion euros for giving its own shopping service an unfair advantage. A Google spokesperson stated that the company disagrees with the ruling and is considering legal options, noting that it has adjusted its shopping ads since 2017. Following the announcement, Alphabet shares dipped by 0.4% in pre-market trading, while Klarna shares rose by 7.5%. The verdict is subject to appeal.