The EU's Regulatory Crackdown on Google Escalates From Fines to Damages, With Other U.S. Big Tech Firms Also Facing Mounting Pressure

Sweden Orders Google to Pay $1.97 Billion in Damages
Wave of EU Fines and Follow-on Lawsuits Against Google Intensifies
Apple, X and Other Big Tech Firms Drawn Into Expanding Regulatory Dragnet, Raising U.S.-EU Tensions

A Swedish court has ordered Google to pay massive damages after finding that the company intentionally favored its own services at the top of search results, distorting market competition and harming PriceRunner, the price comparison platform acquired by Swedish fintech company Klarna. The ruling underscores a broader trend of increasingly stringent enforcement against U.S. technology giants across the European Union, extending well beyond Sweden.

Google Hit With Landmark Damages Ruling in Sweden

According to the Financial Times (FT) on July 1 (local time), Stockholm's Patent and Market Court ruled that Google must pay $1.97 billion in damages, including interest, after determining that the company had illegally favored its own comparison shopping service for years, causing losses to PriceRunner, a Klarna subsidiary. The award marks the largest damages judgment in the history of Swedish antitrust litigation. Klarna had previously sought approximately $8 billion in damages, alleging that between 2008 and 2023 Google systematically displayed its own comparison shopping service more prominently than PriceRunner across search results in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark.

The lawsuit traces its origins to the European Commission's June 2017 decision imposing a $2.42 billion antitrust fine on Google. At the time, the Commission concluded that Google had abused its dominance in the general search market by placing its own comparison shopping service, Google Shopping, at the top of search results while relegating rival services further down the rankings, thereby distorting competition. Google challenged the decision, but European courts consistently upheld the Commission's findings. The EU General Court largely affirmed the decision in 2021, and in September 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the bloc's highest court, dismissed Google's final appeal.

The ruling has since triggered a wave of follow-on lawsuits across Europe. Such actions allow companies harmed by conduct already deemed unlawful by competition authorities or courts to seek separate damages. Similar claims have been filed in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, with judicial momentum increasingly favoring plaintiffs. Even before the Swedish judgment, a Berlin court last year ruled that Google must compensate German price comparison platforms Idealo and Produkto for combined damages totaling approximately $572 million.

EU's Expanding Enforcement Record Against Google

Europe's regulatory offensive has extended well beyond comparison shopping services. One prominent example involves Google's Android operating system. In 2015, the European Commission formally launched an investigation into whether Android violated EU competition law. Regulators argued that smartphone manufacturers effectively required access to the Google Play Store when adopting Android, allowing Google to leverage that indispensable gateway to expand the reach of its own search engine and browser services. In 2018, the Commission concluded that Google had imposed unlawful restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators since 2011 to reinforce its dominance in general internet search, imposing a record $4.34 billion antitrust fine. Google immediately appealed, arguing that Android is an open platform competing with Apple's iOS while expanding choice for manufacturers and consumers alike. Nevertheless, the EU General Court largely upheld the Commission's reasoning in 2022, and on July 2 the CJEU likewise ruled in favor of the Commission.

Google has also clashed with EU regulators over advertising technology. The Commission opened a formal investigation into Google's ad-tech business in 2021 and, in September last year, concluded that since at least 2014 Google had favored its AdX advertising exchange through its publisher ad server DFP and advertising buying tools Google Ads and DV360. Regulators found that the conduct disadvantaged competing advertising exchanges, advertisers and online publishers. Google was subsequently fined approximately $2.95 billion over the case. Although Google announced plans to appeal, it submitted a package of proposed remedies to the EU late last year. However, the proposal reportedly did not include structural measures such as divesting portions of its advertising technology business.

In addition, Google remains under scrutiny under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In 2024, the EU began fully enforcing the DMA's core obligations against designated "gatekeeper" companies including Google, Apple and Meta. The legislation prohibits dominant digital platforms from favoring their own services or restricting competitors' market access through control of critical digital gateways. Immediately after the rules took effect, the Commission launched formal non-compliance proceedings against Alphabet, Google's parent company. In March last year, regulators reached a preliminary conclusion that Google had violated the DMA by giving preferential treatment to its own services in search results. German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported in May, citing Commission sources, that enforcement decisions are now in their final stages, with penalties expected to reach several hundred million dollars.

Regulatory Pressure Expands Across U.S. Big Tech

The EU's aggressive regulatory campaign has increasingly extended beyond Google to encompass other major technology companies. In 2024, the European Commission fined Apple approximately $1.8 billion after determining that the company had abused its dominant position in the App Store distribution market for music streaming applications. The case centered on Apple's so-called anti-steering provisions, which prevented services such as Spotify from informing users about cheaper subscription options available outside the App Store. Following the DMA's implementation, the Commission also formally investigated Apple's restrictions on external payment systems and external purchase links. Last year, regulators imposed an additional $500 million fine after concluding that Apple had violated developers' DMA rights to inform users of alternative purchasing options.

X became the first platform subjected to formal enforcement under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission opened official proceedings against the company in 2023 and, in 2024, issued preliminary findings citing concerns that: the "Blue Check" icon available to paid subscribers could mislead users into believing accounts had been independently verified; the platform's advertising repository lacked sufficient transparency; and researchers faced restrictions in accessing platform data. In December last year, X was fined approximately $120 million for violating transparency obligations under the DSA. In January this year, regulators further expanded the investigation to include risks associated with X's recommendation algorithm and Grok, the general-purpose artificial intelligence chatbot built on the platform's real-time data.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has publicly objected to the EU's regulatory approach. In December last year, the USTR stated that "the EU and certain EU member states have persistently engaged in discriminatory and harassing litigation, taxation, fines and regulatory actions targeting American companies," adding that "the United States has raised concerns with the EU for years, yet the bloc has failed to engage in meaningful dialogue or even acknowledge U.S. concerns." It further warned that "EU companies have enjoyed decades of unrestricted access to the U.S. market under fair competitive conditions," and that "the United States will have no choice but to employ every available tool to respond to these unjustified measures."