MILAN: Moltiply Group has filed a lawsuit against Google in a Milan court, seeking €2.97 billion ($3.34 billion) in damages for alleged abuse of market dominance. The case follows a European Union Court of Justice ruling recognizing Google’s dominant position in the digital marketplace.
Moltiply, the operator of the price comparison website Trovaprezzi.it, claims Google favored its own service, Google Shopping, to the detriment of its subsidiary, 7Pixel, between 2010 and 2017. The Italian daily *Corriere della Sera* first reported the lawsuit, though specific details remain undisclosed.
A Google spokesperson responded to the legal action, telling Reuters, “We disagree strongly with these exorbitant private damages claims which disregard this successful and growing industry.”
This lawsuit follows a 2017 European Commission decision imposing a €2.42 billion fine on Google for favoring its own shopping service over smaller competitors. Google’s subsequent appeal was rejected in September 2024, reinforcing the Commission’s stance on the company’s anticompetitive behavior.
Google maintains that its compliance with the European Commission’s ruling has benefited competition. “The changes Google made in 2017 following the European Commission’s decision are working as intended, and the number of comparison shopping sites in Europe using our shopping features has multiplied from just 7 to more than 1,550,” the spokesperson added.
The legal battle comes amid broader scrutiny of Google’s business practices. In April 2025, Or Brook Class Representative Limited, a company wholly owned by Dr. Or Brook, launched a class action lawsuit against Google in the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal. The lawsuit, led by competition law expert Brook, seeks more than £5 billion ($6.62 billion) in damages over allegations that Google leveraged its dominant position to inflate prices.