Google must pay German price comparison platform 465 million euros in damages, court says

BERLIN (Reuters) -Google must pay the German price comparison platform Idealo approximately 465 million euros ($542 million) in damages for market abuse, a Berlin court has ruled.

The court found that Google had abused its dominant market position in two case decisions and ordered the U.S. technology giant to pay damages, both rulings can be appealed, a court spokesperson told Reuters.

In addition to Idealo, the company behind another German price comparison site, Producto, will also be awarded 107 million euros.

Following the rulings, Idealo - a subsidiary of the German media group Axel Springer - said that it would continue its legal action against Google.

"We will continue to fight – because market abuse must have consequences and must not become a lucrative business model that pays off despite fines and damages payments," said Idealo co-founder Albrecht von Sonntag.

Idealo had demanded 3.3 billion euros, including interest, from Google. The company accused the search engine operator of abusing its market for price comparisons between 2008 and 2023.

Google strongly rejects the rulings and will appeal, said a spokesperson for the company.

Google said it had made changes in 2017 to ensure rival comparison shopping services were given the same opportunity as its own Google Shopping to display ads on its search results page.

"The changes we made in 2017 have proven successful without intervention from the European Commission," said the spokesperson.

"The number of price comparison sites in Europe using the Shopping Unit designed by the remedy has increased from seven to 1,550."

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Miranda Murray,Editing by Louise Heavens)