In the next weeks, lawsuits will be brought in courts in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which might result in large fines for Google. A possible €25 billion ($25.4 billion) in fines has been proposed between the two lawsuits against Google. Reuters reports that the lawsuits accuse Google of engaging in deceptive advertising tactics.
The law firm, Geradin Partners, published the following statement on behalf of publishers who have been harmed by Google's alleged activities.
It is time that Google owns up to its responsibilities and pays back the damages it has caused to this important industry. This is why today we are announcing these actions across two jurisdictions to obtain compensation for EU and UK publishers.” – Damien Geradin
A Google spokesperson told Reuters that “the lawsuit is speculative and opportunistic,” and the company intended to “fight it vigorously”.
Site owners, including conventional publishers, who have banner ads on their websites, will file a claim in the UK in the hopes of receiving compensation. Meanwhile, the Dutch claim is available to any affected publishers.
