In a bold legal strike that reignites long-simmering tensions over Big Tech’s power in Europe, Italy’s Moltiply Group announced on Friday that it has filed a €2.97 billion ($3.34 billion) lawsuit against Google, alleging abuse of market dominance that stifled competition and damaged its business for nearly a decade.
The lawsuit, lodged in a Milan court, centers around Google’s preferential treatment of its own service, Google Shopping, at the expense of rivals like Trovaprezzi.it, a leading Italian price comparison platform operated by Moltiply’s subsidiary 7Pixel.
“This lawsuit is about fairness in the digital marketplace,” Moltiply said in a statement. “Google’s anti-competitive tactics denied Italian consumers true choice and undercut homegrown innovation.”
Echoes of an EU Giant: A €2.42B Fine Revisited
The lawsuit draws momentum from a landmark European Commission decision in 2017, where Google was fined €2.42 billion for unfairly promoting its own price comparison tool over competitors. That ruling became final in September when the EU Court of Justice rejected Google’s appeal, effectively branding the tech giant’s actions as anticompetitive conduct.
Now, Moltiply is seeking restitution for what it calls the “deliberate stifling” of its growth between 2010 and 2017, a period during which it claims Google manipulated search rankings to bury Trovaprezzi.it and promote Google Shopping instead.
