Google is accused of shutting out search engine competition on smartphones by
forcing its own apps as a default on practically all mobile phones in the UK. This led to higher prices for advertisers who have passed costs onto consumers forcing them to pay more for goods and services than they would in a competitive market.
This has resulted in £7 billion lawsuit affecting 65 million UK consumers.
The claim seeks to get around £100 back for everyone affected. You could be affected if you are aged 16 or over and bought goods or services from a business who advertised using search advertising services provided by Google.
The claim argues that Google has effectively 'bought' the UK mobile phone search engine market, because:
- Google forced mobile phone handset manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search and Google Chrome browser apps on devices that use Google's Android operating system in order to obtain a licence to use Google Play.
- Google unlawfully paid billions to Apple to ensure that Google was the default search engine on iPhones and other devices that used Apple's iOS operating system.
Consumer Voice is working to hold Google accountable for their alleged anti-competitive practices and abuse of market dominance.
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