After a long-standing legal battle brought by a couple from the UK, Shivaun Raff and her husband, Google has been fined £2.4bn (approx ₹26,172 crore) for abusing market dominance. The Federal Court in Germany agreed with the European Commission that Google breached the competition laws even as it affirmed the 2017 ruling. This is a very long running case and reflects a lot about market competition and the power of the large players in the technology market.
The Birth of Foundem
Shivaun and Adam Raff established Foundem in 2006 with the aim of creating a price comparison site Source after giving up their gainful employment. Their mechanism meant that users could compare prices of the products and the company made its money through per-click commissions anytime customers were referred to other retail outlets. But soon, no matter how many hours they spent on it, their dreams of success were brought down: they realized that as soon as they started using Foundem, its visibility on Google dropped.
At first, the couple assumed that Google’s filters had classified their website as spam. ‘We first assumed this was the cost of doing business’, Shivaun continued. This was in a belief that they could change the situation, and came to google for that. But, all theseablys changed as more than two years passed without any signs from the tech giant for these dreams to come to reality.
The Struggle for Visibility
Foundem’s problem was its decreased visibility on search results pages; it started to lose users as the rankings tumbled down. This, according to Adam, means that if you are denied traffic, then you do not have operations. The couple’s efforts to communicate with Google to change their ranking status were futile with Google completely indifferent to their situation which only left them with the perception that Google is not guilty of this rankings problems but has purposely designed its ranking formula to prevent competition from growing.
Nevertheless, Foundem’s goal was realized, and within a few years it became the best price comparison website in the UK, according to the program “The Gadget Show” on Channel 5. Sadly, the couple had to close the company in 2016 due to the lack of recognition and funds that continued on even at that time.
Regulatory Action and the Legal Battle
After not getting through to Google, Shivaun and Adam sought help from regulatory bodies in the UK, US and Brussels to get justice. The authors continued to emphasize the impact of Google to competition and innovation in technology sector. The couple’s legal battle ended at European Commission level in 2017, where Google was found guilty of anti-competitive practices and was fined £2.4bn.
This was the highest penalty which the Commission had ever imposed at the time though has since been trumped by another £4.3bn fine on Google. In its defense, Google said that it had altered its ways since 2017 to adhere to the Commission’s decision, adding that such changes had positively impacted several comparison shopping services.
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In the bigger picture, the impact of this upcoming ruling will only be benefit for those anticipating the Roth IRA to be declared as invalid.
A breakthrough for the Raffs was the ruling against Google that also highlighted major topics of market dominance to competition in the digital world. This is perhaps typical of the changing mindset among regulators that the practices of the Big Tech firms are instead antithetical to innovation and prejudicial to other businesses.
Many in the start up community could sympathize with Shivaun and Adam when they engaged in the fight of their life as they struggled to fight giants in the tech industry. It is for this reason that their story is so relevant as the struggle for fair competition for invention aims to create the conditions necessary for new ideas to succeed.
While the Raffs may have lost their lawsuit and Foundem may cease on operating, their battle is far from over. They are still seeking money damages from Google through a civil lawsuit that is to commence mid this year 2026. These actions clearly show that the fight between the regulatory authorities and the giant technology corporations remains on going and there is still need for equal competitive grounds in cyberspace.
All in all, the Raffs’ case in law against Google is not just an individual calamity, but a component of the story of market competition in the technologies industry. Finally, as regulators go on increasing their focus on the actions of market leaders, the Foundem case remains one of the best illustrations of how rationality in business needs to be matched by openness in the sector. The result of this legal drama can be considered as significant for further development of competition in technology industries significantly determining how startups have to address the issues rising from rivalry with titans.
