A German court has ordered Google to pay €572 million (approximately $665 million) in damages to two German price comparison platforms, Idealo and Producto, for abusing its market dominance. The ruling marks a significant enforcement of European antitrust law and intensifies scrutiny over Google's market power.
The court found that Google harmed competition in the price comparison market between 2008 and 2023 by giving preferential treatment to its own Google Shopping service in search results. This practice effectively buried competitors in search results and steered traffic towards Google's own platform. The judges issued two separate decisions: €465 million to Idealo and €107 million to Producto.
Idealo, owned by Axel Springer SE, originally sought €3.3 billion in damages, arguing that Google's anti-competitive practices deprived it of years of traffic and advertising revenue. Producto GmbH had claimed €290 million. The legal action was based on a 2024 European Court of Justice decision that found Google violated competition rules by promoting its own shopping service over competitors and upheld a multibillion-euro fine.
The Berlin Regional Court announced the rulings on Friday morning. The court's decision is considered one of the largest antitrust-related awards ever issued against Google in Europe.
Google plans to appeal both rulings, claiming that it made changes in 2017 to give rival comparison sites equal opportunities. Google states that the number of comparison services using its Shopping Unit in Europe has increased from seven to 1,550 since the changes. However, Idealo maintains that the amount awarded represents only a small fraction of the actual damages.
Albrecht von Sonntag, the co-founder and CEO of Idealo, welcomed the court's decision to hold Google accountable but said that the consequences of self-preferencing go far beyond the amount awarded. He added that Idealo would continue to fight because market abuse must have consequences and not become a lucrative business model.
This case is not Google's first encounter with regulators and the law in Europe. The company has also been accused of prioritizing Google Flights and Google Hotels in search results. In September 2025, the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion ($3.45 billion) for anti-competitive behavior in its ad tech business.
The German court's judgment serves as a critical reminder of the tangible consequences of digital market regulation. Legal analysts expect similar actions to emerge in other jurisdictions, including France and the Netherlands. Across Europe, Google is facing an estimated €12 billion in civil claims tied to this antitrust issue.
