Italian digital services group Moltiply sues Google (GOOGL.US) for $3.34 billion

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Italian digital services group Moltiply announced that its subsidiary formally sued Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.US) to claim 2.97 billion euros (about US$3.34 billion) for market monopoly practices previously determined by the European Court of Justice.

The group said in a statement on Friday that 7Pixel, which operates its price comparison website TrovaPrezzi.it, has issued follow-up claim notices to several “Google entities” accusing it of favoring the monopoly of its own price comparison service Google Shopping from 2010 to 2017 — a fact that was finally determined by the European Court of Justice in September 2024.

Moltiply specifically stated that the claim amount assessed by experts commissioned by 7Pixel included structural damage and interest caused by monopoly practices, totaling 2.97 billion euros.

Google has yet to respond to this matter. The lawsuit has already been filed in the Milan court, but the report did not disclose further details.

In September of last year, the EU Supreme Court upheld an antitrust fine of 2.42 billion euros against Google, finding that favoring Google Shopping services by manipulating search results constituted an abuse of its dominant position in the market. As early as 2017, the European Commission accused Google of harming competitors' interests in this move.