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Google just got handed one of the largest private antitrust bills in European history. A Stockholm court ordered the tech giant to pay $1.97 billion in damages to PriceRunner, the comparison shopping service now owned by Klarna, for systematically rigging search results to favor its own shopping platform.
The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm issued its ruling on July 1, capping a legal saga that stretches back years. PriceRunner had originally asked for roughly $8.3 billion in compensation. The court settled on a figure that, while significantly less than requested, still represents a financial gut punch even by Google’s standards.
How Google’s shopping monopoly created a billion-dollar liability
The roots of this case trace back to 2017, when the European Commission slapped Google with a €2.4 billion fine, approximately $2.6 billion, for abusing its dominant position in search. The core finding: Google had been systematically promoting its own shopping comparison service in search results while burying competitors like PriceRunner further down the page.
PriceRunner filed its private damages claim in 2022, initially estimating its losses at around $2 billion before later revising the figure upward to $8.3 billion. That same year, Klarna acquired PriceRunner, inheriting both the comparison shopping platform and its pending legal battle with one of the world’s most powerful companies.
The trial itself ran between October and December 2025, followed by multiple delays before the court finally delivered its verdict. The proceedings involved a granular examination of how Google’s self-preferencing practices impacted fair competition across European online shopping markets.
Why Klarna stands to benefit beyond the payout
Klarna’s stock, listed on the NYSE under the ticker KLAR, reportedly jumped around 6% following the ruling.
The ruling also makes this one of Europe’s largest private antitrust damages actions ever.
What this means for investors
For Google’s parent company Alphabet, the financial impact of a $1.97 billion judgment is manageable. The European Commission’s original 2017 decision established that Google broke competition law. This Stockholm ruling takes the next step: translating that finding into concrete financial liability owed to a specific injured party.
For Klarna investors, the ruling provides both a near-term cash injection and validation of the PriceRunner acquisition thesis. When Klarna bought PriceRunner in 2022, skeptics questioned whether a comparison shopping engine was worth the investment. A $1.97 billion court award is a compelling counterargument.
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