Google is facing a substantial legal challenge in the United Kingdom, with a class-action lawsuit seeking £5 billion (approximately $6.6 billion USD) in damages. The suit alleges that the tech giant has abused its dominant position in the online search market, leading to inflated advertising prices for hundreds of thousands of businesses.
Filed in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, the lawsuit claims Google has restricted competition, created a monopolistic position in search advertising, forced businesses to use its ad services at inflated prices, and secured preferential placement through deals with device makers. Competition law academic Or Brook brought the suit forward on behalf of UK-based organizations that have used Google's search advertising services since January 1, 2011.
At the heart of the matter is Google's alleged practice of leveraging its dominance to overcharge advertisers. The lawsuit contends that Google shut out competition by contracting with phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices. It also points to Google's payments to Apple to make it the default search engine on iPhones as further evidence of anti-competitive behavior. The suit further claims that Google provides better functionality and more features for its own advertising offerings than it does for competitors.
According to a 2020 study by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, Google earns 90% of all search advertising revenue. This near-total dominance, the lawsuit argues, leaves UK businesses with "almost no choice" but to advertise on Google, even if they are paying higher rates than would exist in a truly competitive market. If successful, this lawsuit could potentially lower Google's artificially inflated search advertising prices, affecting marketing budgets and ROI calculations.
Google has dismissed the lawsuit as "yet another speculative and opportunistic case" and said it will argue against it vigorously. A Google spokesperson stated that "Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives."
The lawsuit mirrors concerns raised by regulators around the world, including in the United States, where Google is undergoing two major antitrust trials from the Department of Justice, targeting its dominance in search and ad tech. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into Google's search services, including their impact on advertising markets, in January 2025. The CMA noted that Google accounts for 90% of searches and is used by over 200,000 UK businesses for advertisement.
The outcome of this case could have significant implications for Google's operations in the UK and beyond. It also adds to the increasing number of class actions against big tech companies in the UK. Google also faces possible remedies in the US for its monopolization of search and ad markets.
