In͏͏ a͏͏ landmark͏͏ legal͏͏ victory,͏͏ a͏͏ UK͏͏ couple͏͏ has͏͏ won͏͏ a͏͏ lengthy͏͏ battle͏͏ against͏͏ tech͏͏ giant͏͏ Google,͏͏ resulting͏͏ in͏͏ a͏͏ record͏͏ fine͏͏ of͏͏ €2.42͏͏ billion͏͏ (approximately͏͏ £2.1͏͏ billion)͏͏ for͏͏ market͏͏ abuse.͏͏ Shivaun͏͏ and͏͏ Adam͏͏ Raff,͏͏ founders͏͏ of͏͏ the͏͏ price͏͏ comparison͏͏ website͏͏ Foundem,͏͏ launched͏͏ their͏͏ business͏͏ in͏͏ 2006͏͏ with͏͏ high͏͏ hopes͏͏ of͏͏ revolutionizing͏͏ online͏͏ shopping͏͏ comparisons.
Foundem’s founders battled Google for 15 years
However,͏͏ shortly͏͏ after͏͏ going͏͏ live,͏͏ they͏͏ noticed͏͏ a͏͏ dramatic͏͏ drop͏͏ in͏͏ their͏͏ website’s͏͏ visibility͏͏ on͏͏ Google͏͏ searches͏͏ for͏͏ key͏͏ terms͏͏ like͏͏ “price͏͏ comparison”͏͏ and͏͏ “shopping.”͏͏ The͏͏ unexpected͏͏ decline͏͏ was͏͏ due͏͏ to͏͏ a͏͏ search͏͏ penalty͏͏ from͏͏ Google’s͏͏ automated͏͏ algorithms,͏͏ which͏͏ ranked͏͏ their͏͏ site͏͏ much͏͏ lower͏͏ than͏͏ expected.
“We͏͏ were͏͏ monitoring͏͏ our͏͏ pages͏͏ and͏͏ how͏͏ they͏͏ were͏͏ ranking,͏͏ and͏͏ then͏͏ we͏͏ saw͏͏ them͏͏ all͏͏ plummet͏͏ almost͏͏ immediately,”͏͏ Adam͏͏ Raff͏͏ told͏͏ the͏͏ BBC.͏͏ Initially͏͏ believing͏͏ it͏͏ was͏͏ a͏͏ mistake,͏͏ the͏͏ couple͏͏ tried͏͏ to͏͏ resolve͏͏ the͏͏ issue͏͏ directly͏͏ with͏͏ Google.͏͏ “We͏͏ just͏͏ assumed͏͏ we͏͏ had͏͏ to͏͏ escalate͏͏ to͏͏ the͏͏ right͏͏ place͏͏ and͏͏ it͏͏ would͏͏ be͏͏ overturned,”͏͏ Shivaun͏͏ Raff͏͏ explained.͏͏ Despite͏͏ numerous͏͏ attempts͏͏ over͏͏ two͏͏ years,͏͏ Google͏͏ didn’t͏͏ lift͏͏ the͏͏ penalty.͏͏ Foundem’s͏͏ traffic͏͏ continued͏͏ to͏͏ suffer,͏͏ even͏͏ as͏͏ other͏͏ search͏͏ engines͏͏ ranked͏͏ it͏͏ normally.
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In͏͏ 2010,͏͏ the͏͏ Raffs͏͏ approached͏͏ the͏͏ European͏͏ Commission,͏͏ leading͏͏ to͏͏ a͏͏ comprehensive͏͏ antitrust͏͏ investigation.͏͏ In͏͏ 2017,͏͏ the͏͏ Commission͏͏ ruled͏͏ that͏͏ Google͏͏ had͏͏ abused͏͏ its͏͏ market͏͏ dominance͏͏ by͏͏ unfairly͏͏ promoting͏͏ its͏͏ own͏͏ shopping͏͏ service͏͏ over͏͏ competitors͏͏ like͏͏ Foundem,͏͏ imposing͏͏ a͏͏ hefty͏͏ fine͏͏ of͏͏ €2.42͏͏ billion.
Google͏͏ appealed͏͏ the͏͏ decision,͏͏ initiating͏͏ years͏͏ of͏͏ legal͏͏ battles.͏͏ In͏͏ November͏͏ 2021,͏͏ the͏͏ General͏͏ Court͏͏ of͏͏ the͏͏ European͏͏ Union͏͏ upheld͏͏ the͏͏ fine,͏͏ rejecting͏͏ Google’s͏͏ appeals.͏͏ The͏͏ company͏͏ has͏͏ the͏͏ option͏͏ to͏͏ appeal͏͏ further͏͏ to͏͏ the͏͏ European͏͏ Court͏͏ of͏͏ Justice.
For͏͏ Shivaun͏͏ and͏͏ Adam͏͏ Raff,͏͏ the͏͏ ruling͏͏ was͏͏ a͏͏ significant͏͏ milestone.͏͏ “We’ve͏͏ both͏͏ been͏͏ brought͏͏ up͏͏ maybe͏͏ under͏͏ the͏͏ delusion͏͏ that͏͏ we͏͏ can͏͏ make͏͏ a͏͏ difference,͏͏ and͏͏ we͏͏ really͏͏ don’t͏͏ like͏͏ bullies,”͏͏ Shivaun͏͏ Raff͏͏ said.
Google͏͏ maintains͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ fine͏͏ addresses͏͏ practices͏͏ that͏͏ ended͏͏ in͏͏ 2017.͏͏ A͏͏ spokesperson͏͏ told͏͏ the͏͏ BBC,͏͏ “The͏͏ changes͏͏ we͏͏ made͏͏ in͏͏ 2017͏͏ to͏͏ comply͏͏ with͏͏ the͏͏ European͏͏ Commission’s͏͏ Shopping͏͏ decision͏͏ have͏͏ worked͏͏ successfully͏͏ for͏͏ more͏͏ than͏͏ several͏͏ years,͏͏ generating͏͏ billions͏͏ of͏͏ clicks͏͏ for͏͏ more͏͏ than͏͏ 800͏͏ comparison͏͏ shopping͏͏ services.”
The͏͏ Raffs͏͏ are͏͏ now͏͏ pursuing͏͏ a͏͏ civil͏͏ damages͏͏ claim͏͏ against͏͏ Google,͏͏ although͏͏ Foundem͏͏ was͏͏ forced͏͏ to͏͏ close͏͏ in͏͏ 2016͏͏ due͏͏ to͏͏ the͏͏ prolonged͏͏ struggle.͏͏ “If͏͏ we͏͏ had͏͏ known͏͏ it͏͏ would͏͏ take͏͏ this͏͏ long,͏͏ we͏͏ might͏͏ have͏͏ thought͏͏ twice,”͏͏ Adam͏͏ Raff͏͏ acknowledged,͏͏ reflecting͏͏ on͏͏ the͏͏ toll͏͏ of͏͏ their͏͏ 15-year͏͏ battle.
