The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has certified a £5bn opt-out class action against Google, allowing the legal action to proceed to a full trial on behalf of nearly 900,000 UK businesses.
The case was brought by Or Brook Class Representative Limited, led by competition law academic Dr Or Brook, and accuses Google of abusing its market dominance in general search to overcharge British businesses and organisations for search advertising.
The tribunal granted a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) on an opt-out basis, meaning affected UK businesses that bought search ads will automatically be included as class members without needing to manually opt in.
Google appealed against the claim to stop it from moving forward on an opt-out basis. CAT rejected this bid on Wednesday.
The decision permits the lawsuit to proceed to a trial on its merits and does not constitute a finding of legal liability against Google.
“I’m delighted with this decision. It is an important step toward securing compensation for the many thousands of UK businesses and organisations that have been overcharged for using Google’s search advertising services,” said Brook.
“Regulators in the UK and beyond have repeatedly recognised the consequences of Google’s sheer dominance in the general search market. For businesses that depend on
search advertising to reach customers, that dominance carries a real financial cost.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been pressuring Google to adjust its practices in the search and digital advertising markets due to the overwhelming dominance held by the tech giant.
Patrick Teague, a partner at Geradin Partners, the law firm representing Brook’s case said: “We are very pleased with the Tribunal’s decision, including its rightful recognition of Dr Brook’s ‘major, careful, detailed contributions’ to the case. We echo these comments and thank Dr Brook for her efforts.”
