Google antitrust ruling: Stockholm court fines Google €1.3bn over PriceRunner harm, building on the EU's 2017 shopping case decision.
A Swedish court has ordered Google to pay 14.3 billion kronor, about €1.3 billion, after ruling that the tech giant illegally favored its own shopping service over PriceRunner, a price comparison site owned by Klarna. The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm handed down the decision on Wednesday, marking one of the largest damages awards of its kind in the country.
At a Glance
- Stockholm court fines Google 14.3 billion kronor (about €1.3bn) over search rankings
- Klarna values the award, with interest, at roughly $1.97 billion
- PriceRunner had sought about 80 billion kronor, so the court granted only a fraction
- The case builds on a 2017 European Commission fine against Google, upheld in 2024
- Google says it plans to fight the ruling
What the Court Found
Judges concluded that PriceRunner suffered real financial harm because Google gave preferential placement to its own comparison shopping tool in search results, pushing rivals further down the page for years. That pattern of what the court called unlawful favoring formed the core of PriceRunner's case, first filed in Stockholm back in 2022. The company argued the demotion in search rankings had chipped away at its traffic and revenue for more than a decade.
How the Numbers Compare to the European Commission Case
The Swedish ruling doesn't stand alone. It leans on groundwork laid by the European Commission, which fined Google €2.42 billion in 2017 for abusing its dominant position in search by boosting its own shopping comparison service. The EU's highest court upheld that fine in 2024, giving PriceRunner's private claim a firm legal foundation to build on. Even so, the Stockholm court awarded PriceRunner far less than it wanted, dismissing most of the roughly 80 billion kronor claim while agreeing with the underlying complaint.
Klarna's Stake in the Outcome
Klarna bought PriceRunner in 2022 and has since folded its comparison technology into the main Klarna app. The judgment matters to Klarna both financially and as validation of a bet it made when it acquired the smaller company. Shares in Klarna jumped 11.5% in premarket trading once the ruling became public. Dan Greaves, the company's head of communications and policy, said the decision points toward a healthier, more competitive market for how people compare prices and products online.
Will Google's Appeal Change the Final Payout
Google has rejected the lawsuit from the start and is expected to appeal to a higher court. The company maintains it overhauled its search results back in 2017 specifically to satisfy the European Commission's demands. Even if the ruling survives appeal, the amount Klarna actually collects will shrink after taxes and after payments owed to former PriceRunner shareholders and the litigation funder that backed the case financially. Rules on damages, appeals and litigation funding vary by jurisdiction, and how this case plays out in Sweden won't necessarily mirror outcomes elsewhere in Europe. The dispute adds another chapter to Google's extended run of antitrust battles across the continent, where the original Google Shopping case remains a reference point for regulators trying to check the power of large tech platforms.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.
