Moltiply Sues Google for €3B Over Dominance

Google’s €2.97B Legal Showdown: How Big Tech’s Market Dominance Sparks Global Backlash
Italy’s Moltiply Group just dropped a legal grenade in Milan’s courts, slapping Alphabet Inc.’s Google with a €2.97 billion ($3.34 billion) lawsuit for allegedly rigging the digital marketplace. This isn’t just another corporate squabble—it’s the latest flare in a global reckoning over Big Tech’s chokehold on competition. From the EU’s historic fines to U.S. regulators demanding breakups, the world’s finally playing hardball with Silicon Valley’s gatekeepers. But will lawsuits alone dismantle the empire? Let’s follow the money—and the monopoly math.
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The Backstory: A Price Comparison Site’s David vs. Goliath Fight

Moltiply’s lawsuit zeroes in on Google’s 2010–2017 tactics, accusing it of suffocating its subsidiary 7Pixel by turbocharging Google Shopping in search results. The victim? Trovaprezzi.it, Italy’s beloved price-comparison engine, which allegedly got buried under Google’s self-serving algorithms. Sound familiar? It should. The EU already fined Google €2.42 billion in 2017 for the same shady playbook—a verdict upheld by courts. Yet here we are, with Moltiply arguing Google’s “dominance tax” never stopped.
This case isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s part of a global pile-on: Sweden’s PriceRunner sued for €2.1 billion, the UK launched a £5 billion class action, and the U.S. DOJ is pushing to break up Google’s ad-tech monopoly. When regulators on three continents call your business model “anti-competitive,” it’s less a conspiracy theory and more a rap sheet.
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Subheading 1: How Google’s Algorithmic Favoritism Skews the Market

Google controls 91% of global search traffic—a stat that turns “competition” into a dark joke. The lawsuit alleges Google Shopping got VIP treatment in results, while rivals like Trovaprezzi.it were demoted to digital Siberia. Internal emails revealed in EU cases showed execs discussing how to “starve” competitors. It’s the tech equivalent of a supermarket stocking only its own brands and hiding competitors’ products in the basement.
Why it matters: Search ranking isn’t neutral. A 2022 study by *Search Engine Land* found page-one results capture 71% of clicks, while page two gets a pathetic 6%. When Google rigs this hierarchy, it doesn’t just hurt competitors—it hijacks consumer choice.
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Subheading 2: The Ripple Effect—From Startups to Stock Prices

Moltiply’s €2.97 billion ask isn’t arbitrary. It’s based on projected revenue Trovaprezzi.it lost while wrestling Google’s thumb on the scale. But the damage goes deeper:
– Startup graveyard: Smaller price-comparison sites like Foundem (UK) and Ciao (Germany) folded after Google’s tactics cratered their traffic.
– Investor chill: VCs hesitate to fund startups in sectors Google dominates, fearing they’ll be algorithmically erased. A 2023 Brookings report noted a 22% drop in ad-tech startup funding post-EU rulings.
– Stock swings: Alphabet’s shares dipped 3% after the Moltiply lawsuit dropped—proof that legal risks are now priced into Big Tech’s valuation.
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Subheading 3: Regulatory Whack-a-Mole—Why Fines Aren’t Enough

The EU’s €2.42 billion fine in 2017? Google paid it from petty cash (it made $257 billion in 2023). The company’s playbook is clear: absorb fines as a “cost of doing business” while maintaining monopoly profits.
What’s changing:
– Structural reforms: The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now forces Google to let rivals bid for default search spots on Android devices.
– U.S. muscle: The DOJ’s 2023 antitrust suit demands Google sell parts of its ad-tech stack—a breakup threat that’s rattled investors.
– Consumer backlash: A *Pew Research* poll found 68% of Americans now support stricter Big Tech regulation, up from 47% in 2018.
Yet loopholes persist. Google’s “Project Bernanke”—exposed in 2021—used secret data to outbid rivals in ad auctions. Until regulators mandate transparency, the house always wins.
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The Bottom Line: A Tipping Point for Tech Titans?

Moltiply’s lawsuit is more than a cash grab—it’s a stress test for global antitrust efforts. If courts award billions, it could embolden more victims to sue. But fines alone won’t fix systemic bias. The endgame? Forcing Google to:

The verdict? Still out. But one thing’s clear: the era of Big Tech’s “move fast and break things” mantra is colliding with a world that’s finally reading the fine print.
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