In its 10 September 2024 ruling on the Google Shopping case, the EU Court of Justice confirmed that Google broke EU antitrust rules because it abused its market dominance as a search engine by unfairly promoting its own comparison shopping service.

The Court rejected the appeal lodged by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the EU General Court’s November 2021 ruling that upheld the European Commission’s June 2017 Google Shopping decision.

Why it’s important

The EU Court ruling is crucially important for Europe’s consumers because it confirmed that Google cannot unfairly deny European consumers access to full and unbiased online information about where to get the best deals.  The Court confirmed that Google had illegally abusing its dominance in the search engine market to deny rival comparison shopping services the possibility to compete fairly.

The Court ruling is also important because it confirms that EU competition law remains highly relevant in digital markets. The European Commission and national competition authorities in the EU must continue to strictly apply competition law to Big Tech’s online exploitation of consumer behaviour.

For consumers it means

• Much easier access to potentially cheaper prices and useful product information from a range of online comparison shopping services on all sorts of products, from clothes to washing machines, because Google can no longer make rival comparison shopping services virtually invisible.

• More choice of online comparison shopping services that are now better able to compete with Google Shopping and offer innovative services.

What BEUC did

BEUC was a complainant against Google during the Commission’s investigation into Google’s unfair promotion of its own comparison shopping service and exclusion of rival shopping services leading to the Commission’s June 2017 Google Shopping decision.

BEUC took part in the administrative proceedings and intervened before the General Court in support of the Commission decision (case T-612/17) prior to the EU General Court’s November 2021 ruling that upheld the European Commission’s June 2017 Google Shopping decision.

BEUC was a party in the case before the Court of Justice in support of the General Court’s 2021 ruling, including at the hearing on 19 September 2023.

The General Court, in its September 2022 ruling on the separate Google Android case, explicitly recognised the legitimacy of BEUC’s position as a representative of users of general search services.

Related: 
BEUC applauds EU General Court ruling on Google Shopping case (November 2021)
Consumers welcome EU Court of Justice landmark ruling on Google Shopping antitrust case (September 2024)