UK firms sue Google for alleged abuse of ad market dominance

Google is being sued for up to £5bn in damages over allegations it shut out rivals in the internet search market and abused this dominance to overcharge British businesses for advertisements.

- Rachel Hall

A class action filed at the competition appeal tribunal yesterday argues that the US technology company has taken actions that enable it to charge higher prices for the promotions that appear in search inquiries than it otherwise could in a fair market.

It alleged that Google, owned by the US tech company Alphabet, contracted phone makers to preinstall the Google search app and Chrome browser on Android devices and paid Apple to make it the default search engine on iPhones, with the intention of shutting out competition.

The claim was filed by the competition law expert Or Brook on behalf of thousands of businesses and alleges Google ensured its search engine had better functionality and more features for Google's own advertising offering than that of its competitors.

A Google spokesperson said: "This is yet another speculative and opportunistic case - and we will argue against it vigorously. Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives."