Google faces £5 billion UK class action over alleged search advertising abuse
The Competition Appeal Tribunal certified the claim on behalf of an estimated 880,000 British businesses that allegedly paid inflated prices for Google search ads.
Google must face a class action lawsuit seeking as much as £5 billion in damages after the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed a claim covering hundreds of thousands of British businesses to proceed.
The lawsuit alleges Google abused dominant positions connected to mobile operating systems, app distribution, general search services, and search advertising, allowing the company to exclude competitors and charge businesses inflated advertising prices.
The tribunal certified the proceedings Wednesday on an opt out basis, meaning eligible UK businesses will automatically be included unless they choose to leave the class. The ruling rejected Google’s request to require businesses to actively join the case.
Lawyers for Or Brook, a competition law academic acting as the class representative, estimate that approximately 880,000 businesses are covered by the claim. The case seeks damages of around £5 billion, equivalent to approximately $6.7 billion.
The proposed class includes UK businesses and organizations that purchased Google search advertising directly or through an advertising agency between January 1, 2011, and April 15, 2025.
Brook alleges Google used agreements with mobile device manufacturers to have Google Search and Chrome installed on Android devices and paid Apple to make Google the default search engine on iPhones.
The lawsuit claims those arrangements restricted competition and left businesses with few practical alternatives to Google’s advertising services. It also alleges Google gave its own search advertising products better functionality and features than competing services.
Google described the claim as speculative and opportunistic and said it would contest the allegations.
The tribunal said the proposed collective proceedings met the eligibility requirements and that the balance of factors supported allowing the lawsuit to proceed on an opt out basis. It also said concerns raised by Google about the claimant’s funding and legal costs were not sufficient to block certification.
The ruling only allows the case to advance toward trial and does not determine that Google violated competition law or that businesses are entitled to compensation.
Brook called the certification an important step toward securing compensation for UK businesses and organizations that allegedly overpaid for Google’s search advertising services.