With accrued interest included, the total compensation rises to about $1.97 billion (14.3 billion Swedish crowns), making it the largest damages award ever issued in a Swedish competition case. Although substantial, the amount is significantly lower than the roughly 78 billion Swedish crowns PriceRunner originally sought.
Commenting on the judgment, court official Linda Kullberg said: "The damages are, despite the fact that PriceRunner has not achieved full success with its action, without a doubt the largest that has been awarded in a Swedish competition case."
The legal battle began in 2022 when PriceRunner filed a lawsuit seeking around €2.1 billion in damages, alleging that Google manipulated search rankings to give preferential treatment to its own shopping comparison service, harming rival platforms and reducing their visibility.
The case traces its roots back to 2008, when Google started placing its own shopping comparison service more prominently in search results. Competitors argued that the move caused a sharp decline in traffic to independent price comparison websites, significantly affecting their businesses.
The latest ruling builds on earlier action by the European Commission. In 2017, then-European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager fined Google for abusing its market dominance by giving its own shopping service an unfair advantage over smaller European competitors. Google later lost its appeal against that decision in 2021, paving the way for several private damages claims across Europe.
Since then, multiple comparison-shopping businesses have pursued compensation. While PriceRunner has now secured the largest award to date, other courts have also ruled against Google. A German court last year ordered the company to pay approximately €465 million to price comparison platform Idealo and another €107 million to Producto. Similar lawsuits remain ongoing in the United Kingdom, where companies including Kelkoo and Foundem are seeking damages, while Italy's Moltiply Group, which operates Trovaprezzi.it, is pursuing a €2.97 billion claim.
Google said it disagrees with the Swedish court's decision and is considering its next legal steps.
A company spokesperson said: "We don't agree with the court's decision, we are reviewing and will consider our legal options."
The spokesperson added that Google has made significant changes to its shopping advertisements since the 2017 European Commission ruling, arguing that the updated system has benefited comparison shopping services while supporting business growth and employment.
PriceRunner, which was acquired by Klarna in 2022, sought compensation for profits it claims were lost in the United Kingdom from 2008 onward, as well as in Sweden and Denmark since 2013.
Despite welcoming the court's decision, Klarna acknowledged that any financial recovery is unlikely to happen in the near term because Google has the right to appeal.
Klarna's legal counsel, Pontus Scherp, told Reuters: "We can expect an appeal to take over a year and likely years."
Following the ruling, Alphabet shares slipped about 0.4% in U.S. premarket trading, while Klarna shares climbed roughly 7.5%, reflecting investor optimism over the court's decision and the potential financial impact if the judgment is ultimately upheld.