Mon Oct 28 23:59:04 UTC 2024: ## Google Fined Record €2.4 Billion for Stifling Competition, Foundem Founders Tell Their Story
In a landmark victory for competition and a stinging defeat for tech giant Google, the European Court of Justice upheld a €2.4 billion fine against the company for abusing its market dominance. The case stems from a 15-year battle waged by Foundem, a price comparison website that was effectively “disappeared” from the internet by Google’s search algorithms.
Foundem founders Shivaun and Adam Raff, who dedicated years and their life savings to building the website, spoke publicly about their ordeal for the first time since the final verdict. They described how their website, launched in 2006, plummeted in search rankings almost immediately after going live, making it nearly invisible to potential customers.
“We were monitoring our pages, and then we saw them all plummet almost immediately,” Adam said. “We initially thought this was collateral damage, that we had been falsely detected as spam.” But despite numerous appeals, Google ignored their pleas for over two years.
The Raffs eventually discovered that they weren’t alone. Other price comparison sites, including Kelkoo, Trivago, and Yelp, had also been unfairly disadvantaged by Google’s actions.
In 2017, the European Commission found Google guilty of illegally promoting its own comparison shopping service while demoting competitors. The company spent seven years fighting the verdict before finally losing its appeal this September.
The Raffs, who had to close Foundem in 2016, continue to fight for justice and accountability. They believe Google’s anti-competitive practices persist and are pursuing a civil damages claim against the company.
While the victory is a significant one for competition and consumer choice, it comes with a heavy price for the Raffs. “I think if we had known it was going to be quite as many years as it turned out to be, we might not have made the same choice,” Adam admitted.
First Piper 