Google faces £5 billion UK class action over alleged search advertising abuse

Google must face a class action lawsuit seeking as much as £5 billion in damages after the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed a claim covering hundreds of thousands of British businesses to proceed. The lawsuit alleges Google abused dominant positions connected to mobile operating systems, app distribution, general search services, and search advertising, allowing the company to exclude competitors and charge businesses inflated advertising prices. The tribunal certified the proceedings Wednesday on an opt out basis, meaning eligible UK businesses will automatically be included unless they choose to leave the class. The ruling rejected Google’s request to require businesses to actively join the case. Lawyers for Or Brook, a competition law academic acting as the class representative, estimate that approximately 880,000 businesses are covered by the claim. The case seeks damages of around £5 billion, equivalent to approximately $6.7 billion. The proposed class includes UK businesses and organizations that purchased Google search advertising directly or through an advertising agency between January 1, 2011, and April 15, 2025. Brook alleges Google used agreements with mobile devi...