Google faces $6.6 billion lawsuit in UK for abusing market dominance

New Delhi: Google is facing legal troubles in the UK for damages of up to $6.6 billion in a class action suit for abusing its market dominance to kill competition and exploit advertisers in the industry, as per reports.

As per the class action, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, Google uses its market dominance to charge unfairly from advertisers, which would have been an unlikely scenario in a competitive market.

Reportedly, Google restricts competition by paying Apple to make it the default search engine and asking cell phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices.

The case is headed by legal professional Or Brook, who represents the hundreds of advertisers who used Google’s advertising services from January 2011 up to the date when the case was filed, the report added.

Google has dismissed the allegations, saying this is"yet another speculative and opportunistic case."

"We will argue against it vigorously," said a Google spokesperson. "Consumers and advertisers use Google because it is helpful, not because there are no alternatives."

Brook argued that advertisers and consumers are left with no choice but to use Google. The company has established a monopoly, and “securing a spot on Google's top pages is essential for visibility,” she said.

Furthermore, a 2020 market study from Britain’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), revealed that Google acquired 90% of all revenue in the search advertising market.

An investigation pertaining to Google’s search services and the effect it has on advertising markets was initiated by the UK’s antitrust regulator in January.