Collective proceedings against Google to proceed

In a judgment issued on 22 November the CAT has ruled that Nikki Stopford will be permitted to proceed with collective proceedings against Google on behalf of millions of UK consumers. The claims seeks damages from Google for the alleged harm arising from:

• The “Android Conduct”, a follow-on claim arising out of the European Commission’s Decision in Google Android in 2018, which relates to arrangements dating from at least 2009, wherein Google permitted the Play Store to be installed on Android mobile devices only if Google’s own search app was also installed, together with Google Chrome, on which Google Search is the default search engine.
• “iOS Conduct”, a standalone claim, which relates to Google’s agreements with Apple under which Google is awarded the exclusive default search engine status on Safari, which is pre-installed on Apple’s devices, in return for a share of Google’s corresponding mobile search advertising revenues.

The conduct is alleged to have caused an increase in the price of goods sold by businesses that advertise on Google.

The judgment follows a two day hearing in September at which Ms Stopford was represented by Ben Lask KC and Google was represented by Meredith Pickford KC, Josh Holmes KC and David Gregory.

A copy of the judgment is here.