Story audio is generated using AI
By Supantha MukherjeeA Swedish court on Wednesday ordered Alphabet’s Google to pay about $1.5bn in antitrust damages to PriceRunner, the price-comparison business owned by payments platform Klarna.The award, equivalent to about 14.3bn Swedish krone (R24.07bn), comes amid growing scrutiny of US Big Tech companies in Europe. It is the largest award by a Swedish court in a competition case, though well below the 78bn crowns PriceRunner had sought, including accrued interest.“The damages are, despite the fact that PriceRunner has not achieved full success with its action, without doubt the largest that has been awarded in a Swedish competition case,” said Alderman Linda Kullberg, a court official.PriceRunner sued Google in 2022, seeking about €2.1bn in damages and alleging it manipulated search results. Three months earlier, Google had lost an appeal against a €2.42bn EU antitrust fine imposed in 2017 over findings that it gave its own shopping comparison service an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.Your next read: Google ruling reveals challenge of antitrust enforcement in techA Google spokesperson said the company had made changes to its shopping advertisements since 2017 that were supporting jobs and growth for comparison shopping services.“We don’t agree with the court’s decision; we are reviewing it and will consider our legal options,” the spokesperson said.PriceRunner, which was acquired by Sweden’s Klarna in 2022, sought compensation for profits it said it had lost in Britain since 2008 and in Sweden and Denmark since 2013.While Klarna welcomed the ruling, the award remains subject to appeal. Klarna’s legal team was not immediately available for comment.Alphabet shares were down about 0.4% in US premarket trading, while Klarna shares were up about 7.5%.Reuters
