Canadian court certifies class action against Apple over Google search deal
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has certified a class action against Apple over allegations that its search agreement with Google stifled competition and inflated advertising prices. Here are the details. more…
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has approved a class action lawsuit against Apple in Canada, alleging that the tech giant allowed Google to inflate advertising prices by colluding to suppress competition in the search market. The case, which began in 2021, centers around Apple's exclusive deal with Alphabet to make Google the default search engine on Apple devices.
The lawsuit, initially brought by event rental company Spark Event Rentals Ltd., asserts that Apple benefited from billions in revenue-share payments from Google in exchange for hosting its search engine on Apple products. This arrangement allegedly restricted Apple's ability to develop its own search engine, allowing Google to dominate the market and charge advertisers excessively high prices.
Despite Apple's strong objections to the evidence presented, the judge determined that the case warrants further scrutiny. If successful, the lawsuit could result in financial compensation for advertisers who overpaid for Google search ads and potentially force Google to alter its tactics in the search market.
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