The European Court of Justice Resoundingly Rejects Google’s Final Appeal
London, 10 September 2024 – Statement by Shivaun Raff, CEO and Co-Founder of Foundem, the original and lead Complainant in the European Commission’s Google Search (Comparison Shopping) investigation, and an Intervener in Google’s Appeals of the EC’s June 2017 Prohibition Decision to the General Court and European Court of Justice:
We welcome today’s judgment, which upholds the Commission’s June 2017 Prohibition Decision.
However, it is now well past time for the Commission to bring an end to Google’s anti-competitive conduct—either by finally enforcing the equal treatment remedy mandated by the Prohibition Decision, or by enforcing the equivalent equal treatment obligation under Article 6.5 of the DMA.[1]
As the company that first brought these matters to the attention of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, it is disheartening to note that, in the fifteen years since our competition complaint and seven years since the Prohibition Decision that upheld it, Google has done nothing to end or curtail its unlawful practices.
Through a toxic combination of anti-competitive penalties and a CSS Auction introduced in the guise of a remedy,[2] Google has now all but eradicated comparison shopping from its search results. Instead of being a click away from a comprehensive survey of the market for their chosen product, Google’s users are now presented with a small number of pay-for-placement ads, selected for their ability to maximise Google’s profits not their ability to deliver the lowest prices for consumers.
For a detailed timeline of the events leading up to and during the EC’s antitrust investigation, Prohibition Decision and subsequent appeals, see our Timeline on searchneutrality.org.