Google ordered to pay 14.3 bn SEK in Swedish antitrust case

A Swedish court has ordered Google to pay 14.3 billion Swedish kronor, or approximately 1.5 billion euros, in damages to the price comparison service PriceRunner, marking one of the largest antitrust awards in the country's history. The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm ruled on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, that Google unlawfully favored its own shopping comparison service in search results for years, harming competitors like PriceRunner, which is owned by the fintech company Klarna.

The court found that Google's conduct caused damage to PriceRunner, though it dismissed the majority of the plaintiff's financial claims. PriceRunner, which filed the lawsuit in 2022, had sought roughly 78 to 80 billion kronor in damages and interest. Judge Linda Kullberg stated that the awarded sum is, without a doubt, the largest ever decided in a Swedish competition case.

The ruling stems from longstanding European Union antitrust actions. In 2017, the European Commission fined Google 2.42 billion euros for abusing its search dominance to illegally advantage its own comparison shopping service. That decision was upheld by the EU's highest court in 2024, establishing the legal foundation for...