Google is defending its Shopping search practices in a major antitrust damages trial before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). Rival comparison shopping services are claiming that Google’s remedies failed to restore competition after the EU’s landmark 2017 antitrust ruling.

Google argues it has already fixed the problem by opening its Shopping advertising units to rival comparison shopping services, which allows for competitors to bid for placement alongside Google’s own shopping results.

Rivals, including Kelkoo and Foundem, disagree. They claim Google’s changes simply force competitors to pay for visibility while Google retains an advantage in search rankings.

The case revolves around whether Google’s current Shopping service continues to favour its own commercial interests. This is despite changes that were introduced following the €2.42 billion (approximately A$3.94 billion) European Commission fine imposed on Google in 2017 for abusing its dominant market position.

According to Google, the online shopping market has fundamentally changed, with the company arguing consumers now increasingly begin product searches on marketplaces such as Amazon, rather than on comparison shopping websites.

The London proceedings are just the first stage of several UK damages claims, with the court initially examining whether Google’s post-2017 remedies complied with competition law before determining any financial compensation.

The outcome could vastly affect many, including significant implications for online retailers, price comparison services and digital advertising platforms as the ways in whichGoogle presents shopping results across international markets could be influenced.  

Google is facing growing regulatory challenges in Europe with this case following a recent Swedish court ruling that ordered Google to pay almost US$2 billion (approximately A$2.86 billion) in damages to PriceRunner over similar Shopping search practices. It shows there is increasing pressure from private damages claims, beyond regulatory fines.