A class action lawsuit seeking compensation for a total of over 1.3 trillion yen will be filed as ``Living costs are rising because of Google''
Google, which operates a variety of businesses around the world including search, advertising, cloud services, and hardware, is involved in various lawsuits every day. A new class action lawsuit has been filed in the UK claiming that ``Google's advertising business is making people's living costs higher.''
Google faces multibillion-pound lawsuit from UK consumers | Google |
The lawsuit, filed at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal , alleges that Google violated competition law (antitrust law) by suppressing competition in the search engine market, thereby causing price increases across the UK economy. is.
According to the complaint, Google shut out competitors in mobile search and used its market power to raise the cost of displaying ads in Google search results. The plaintiffs argue that if advertisers pay higher advertising fees to Google, the increased costs are passed on to the prices of goods and services, and as a result, consumers are adversely affected by price increases. .
Nikki Stopford, co-founder of the consumer rights group Consumer Voice and lead on the class action lawsuit, said: ``This lawsuit is about not only recovering what people paid, but also holding Google accountable for its actions.'' The aim is to restore market equilibrium.'
This class action lawsuit seeks an estimated 7.3 billion pounds (approximately 1.34 trillion yen) in compensation for approximately 65 million British citizens aged 16 and over. This is equivalent to compensation of about £ 100 (about 18,000 yen) per eligible citizen.
Google is making every effort to protect its position in mobile search, and in 2021, it plans to pay Apple $15 billion (approximately 1 trillion at the current rate) to remain the default search engine for iOS's mobile browser Safari. 650 billion yen).
Plaintiffs point out that Google's agreement to remain the default search engine for iOS maintained its dominant position in mobile search. The complaint alleges that Google crowds search results screens with paid ads, pressuring companies to pay more to display ads rather than waiting for consumers to find websites on their own. It is claimed that
Stopford said: 'Google fixes things, sometimes in illegal ways, and is the default search engine on virtually all smartphones in the UK. Google has exploited its market power to make the market less competitive. They charged advertisers more for advertising, such as the sponsored links that appear when someone searches for something using Google, than they would have otherwise.Inevitably, advertisers pass these higher costs on to shoppers. It has been passed on to ,' he said.
In addition, Google advertising has generated more than $ 224 billion (about 33 trillion yen) in revenue in 2022 alone, accounting for about 80% of the revenue of Alphabet, Google's parent company.
Luke Streatfield, a partner at law firm Hausfeld, who is leading the lawsuit, said, ``Google provides a great service, but it's not free.'' It claims that it has stifled competition and disadvantaged the businesses and consumers who use its services.The lack of competition has led to higher prices and lower quality, with repercussions across the UK economy. ” commented.
A Google spokesperson told leading daily The Guardian: 'This lawsuit is speculative and opportunistic, and we strongly oppose it. People use Google because it's convenient. People. We earn money only when an ad is useful and relevant, as evidenced by clicks on the ad, at a price set in real-time auctions. , new claims and new products to be discovered.”
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