The European Commission's record €890 million penalty against Google, issued last week under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), is already reshaping the landscape for private damages claims from rival tech companies across the continent. The fine, the first of its kind under the DMA, targets two distinct violations: Google's continued self-preferencing in search results for its own services—including shopping, hotels, transport, and sports—and restrictions on app developers steering Google Play users toward cheaper payment options.
Teresa Ribera, the Commission's Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, emphasized that products should succeed on their merits, not on the basis of who controls the search engine. Google has contested the ruling, with global affairs president Kent Walker arguing that the decision forces the company to remove features users value, such as real-time pricing and availability for hotels and flights, calling it a degradation of the product rather than a step toward fair competition.
Existing damages claims and their outcomes
Several high-profile damages cases against Google were already underway before this fine, built on the European Commission's 2017 Google Shopping decision under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which established Google's abuse of dominance. In Germany, a Berlin court awarded price-comparison site Idealo €465 million in November 2025, far below the €3.3 billion it had sought. Idealo's co-founder Albrecht von Sonntag stated that "market abuse must have consequences" and must not become a lucrative business model, vowing to continue pressing the claim. In the same case, Testberichte.de operator Producto GmbH received roughly €107 million against a €290 million claim.
In Italy, Moltiply Group's subsidiary 7Pixel filed a €2.97 billion follow-on claim in May 2025 for harm to its Trovaprezzi.it comparison site, citing "the structural effects of the abuse and interest" as calculated by external experts. In Sweden, Klarna-owned PriceRunner secured approximately €1.7 billion from a Stockholm court in July 2026.
How the new fine changes the legal calculus
These earlier cases relied on the 2017 Commission decision, meaning claimants only needed to quantify damages, not prove the violation itself. The new DMA fine covers separate, more recent conduct—continued self-preferencing and anti-steering practices—and does not reopen the older cases. However, it significantly weakens a key defense Google has used in damages trials: that its 2017 changes fixed the problem and any harm was temporary. A finding that the same behavior persisted years later makes that argument far harder to sustain.
The fine could also expand the temporal scope of claims. Because it documents misconduct extending into recent years, companies may now seek damages for that later period, on top of the pre-2017 harm covered by older cases. This shift is likely to fuel larger claims and new lawsuits. For context, the EU's trade chief has warned that US retaliation is likely after the Google fine, adding a geopolitical dimension to the legal battles.
As Europe continues to enforce its digital regulations, the ripple effects are being felt across the continent. Meanwhile, other sectors are also grappling with regulatory challenges, such as Germany's rising renewable curtailment as the bloc cuts waste, and Sweden's plan to ban PFAS in consumer goods by 2028, pushing ahead of the EU timeline.
