The landscape of online shopping is becoming increasingly contentious as Italy’s Moltiply Group, the parent company of the popular price comparison website Trovaprezzi.it, has initiated legal action against tech giant Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The lawsuit demands a staggering 2.97 billion euros, equivalent to approximately $3.34 billion, in damages.

Moltiply contends that Google has leveraged its dominant market position to stifle competition, a fact that has already been corroborated by the EU’s highest court. At the heart of Moltiply’s lawsuit is the assertion that Google’s actions between 2010 and 2017 hindered the growth of its subsidiary, 7Pixel.

The company alleges that Google unfairly promoted its own Google Shopping service over competitors such as Trovaprezzi.it. Reports from the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera indicate that the lawsuit was filed in a Milan court, focusing on how Google allegedly granted its shopping platform an unjust advantage in the market.

In response, Google has strongly disputed these claims. A company spokesperson has characterized the lawsuit’s damage claims as exorbitant and disconnected from the realities of a thriving and competitive industry.

This lawsuit is not without precedent; the European Commission fined Google in 2017 for offering its own price comparison service an unfair advantage over smaller rivals. Google subsequently lost its appeal against a 2.42 billion euro penalty last September.

Since that ruling, Google asserts that it has made adjustments that have led to a significant increase in comparison shopping sites utilizing its shopping features. As this high-stakes lawsuit progresses in the Italian courts, it marks another significant chapter in the ongoing examination of major tech corporations and their influence on market dynamics, calling into question the future of online shopping and fair competition.