A Swedish court has ordered Alphabet’s Google to pay approximately $1.5 billion in antitrust damages to PriceRunner, a price comparison service owned by financial technology firm Klarna.
Court official Linda Kullberg confirmed the award is the largest ever in a Swedish competition case, though substantially less than the $8 billion PriceRunner originally sought.
The decision stems from a 2022 lawsuit alleging Google manipulated search results to unfairly favor its own shopping services. This follows a separate €2.42 billion fine from the European Union for similar practices.
Google stated it disagrees with the ruling and is evaluating its legal options, noting it had already adjusted its shopping ad products in 2017.
Klarna, which acquired PriceRunner in 2022, saw its shares rise 7.5% following the news. Google shares dipped 0.4%.