German court rules Google must pay €572M for violating antitrust rules in price comparison sector

Core Points - A German court has ruled that Google abused its dominant market position in the price comparison sector, ordering the company to pay €572 million ($665.6 million) in damages to two German price comparison companies [1] - Idealo is set to receive approximately €465 million ($540 million) while Producto will receive €107 million ($124 million) as part of the damages awarded [1] - Idealo had initially claimed damages of €3.3 billion, linking its lawsuit to a previous ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2024 that found Google was self-preferencing its own shopping comparison service [2] - Idealo intends to continue pursuing the full damages initially sought against Google [2] - Idealo's CEO emphasized the importance of holding Google accountable for market abuse and indicated that the fight against such practices will continue [3] - Google may appeal the ruling, indicating ongoing legal challenges for the company [3] - This ruling follows a recent EU investigation into Google's spam policy and a fine of €2.95 billion (approximately $3.5 billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules by favoring its own advertising services [4]