The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm has ordered Alphabet Inc.'s Google to pay almost $2 billion to Klarna Group Plc's PriceRunner unit for abusing its dominance in the market for comparison shopping services. The court delivered the judgment on Wednesday, July 1, 2026.

The award falls far short of what PriceRunner sought. The Swedish price-comparison website claimed 80 billion Swedish kronor, roughly $8.2 billion, and the court dismissed most parts of the claim. Even so, Judge Linda Kullberg described the outcome as "without a doubt the largest claim that has been ordered in a Swedish competition case."

Klarna shares rose 5.3% in premarket trading after the ruling.

The litigation stems from conduct that PriceRunner says spanned more than a decade: Google favoring its own comparison shopping service over competing portals in search results. Klarna said in a statement after the judgment that Wednesday's award compensates for lost revenue caused by Google's preferential treatment of its own comparison-shopping service, conduct the company said also drives up costs for consumers.

"When markets work well, everyone benefits. Consumers get higher quality at lower cost, companies stay focused on serving customers rather than defending position, and society is better off for it," said Dan Greaves, Klarna's head of communications and policy.

Google signaled it will fight on. A company spokesperson said Google does not agree with the court's decision and will consider its legal options. According to the spokesperson, changes implemented to its platform in 2017 are working and generating growth and jobs for hundreds of comparison shopping services operating more than 1,500 websites across Europe. The ruling can be appealed.

The EU foundation

The Swedish case belongs to a wave of follow-on litigation triggered by the European Commission's 2017 decision to fine Google €2.4 billion for illegally leveraging its search dominance to give its own shopping service an edge. Those suits were delayed for years while Google appealed the EU fine. Two years ago the EU's top tribunal confirmed that the company violated antitrust laws, meaning EU-based plaintiffs no longer have to prove liability in court. Damages are now the central battleground.

The Stockholm judgment is not the first major award. A Berlin court last year ordered the tech giant to pay €573 million in damages to two German price-comparison websites. Google has appealed that ruling. Similar cases remain pending across Europe.

What it means for practitioners

For competition counsel, the decision confirms that national courts in the EU will award substantial damages in Google shopping follow-on claims even while trimming headline demands dramatically — PriceRunner recovered roughly a quarter of what it sought. The Swedish precedent, layered on the Berlin award, gives claimants' counsel concrete benchmarks for quantum arguments in pending actions across other member states, while the prospect of appeal means final numbers may still shift. Defendants, meanwhile, can take some comfort from the court's willingness to dismiss the bulk of the claim, a signal that aggressive damages models will face close scrutiny. Counsel on both sides should track Google's appeal in Stockholm and in Berlin, as appellate outcomes will shape settlement dynamics in every remaining European follow-on case.