Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google is facing a class action lawsuit in the U.K., where it’s being sued for potential damages exceeding £5 billion ($6.6 billion).
The claim alleges that the U.S. tech giant has been abusing its near-total dominance in the online search market, which has resulted in increased prices.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal, alleges that Google has been using its dominant position to stifle competition from other search engines.
It claims this has strengthened Google’s market standing and established it as the sole viable platform for online search advertising.
According to the lawsuit, Google has been actively excluding competition by entering into contracts with phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices.
Additionally, the tech company has been paying Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) to ensure that Google Search is the default search engine on iPhones.
