Italy’s Moltiply Group has filed a lawsuit against Google, seeking damages of €2.97 billion ($3.34 billion) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the market, as previously recognised by the European Court of Justice. The company, which operates the well-known Italian price comparison website Trovaprezzi.it, claims that Google’s actions obstructed the growth of its subsidiary 7Pixel between 2010 and 2017, while unfairly promoting its own Google Shopping service.
The legal claim was submitted to a Milan court, as reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, although further details regarding the lawsuit were not disclosed.
In response to the lawsuit, a Google spokesperson expressed strong disagreement with the damage claims, describing them as “exorbitant” and suggesting they overlooked the success and growth of the comparison shopping industry.
This lawsuit follows a history of legal challenges for Google over its market dominance. In 2017, the European Commission fined the tech giant €2.42 billion for unfairly using its price comparison shopping service to disadvantage smaller competitors in Europe. In September, Google lost its final appeal against the fine.