Allegro’s Ceneo Sues Google for $568 Million Over Antitrust Claims

A subsidiary of Polish e-commerce giant Allegro, Ceneo, has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Google Ireland, and Google LLC, seeking damages of 2.33 billion zlotys ($567.6 million). The lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims that Google’s preferential treatment of its own price comparison service in search results has harmed Ceneo’s business by undermining competition.

Ceneo, which operates a popular online price comparison service in Poland, argues that Google’s practices have caused substantial financial losses. According to Allegro, the damages comprise 1.72 billion zlotys for the losses sustained by Ceneo, along with about 615 million zlotys in interest payments, accruing from 2013 to November 29, 2024. Ceneo also seeks statutory interest on the total amount from the date of the lawsuit until the damages are paid.

In response, Google rejected the claims, asserting that its “Shopping remedy” has been successful in supporting a variety of retailers, brands, and comparison shopping sites across Poland and Europe. A Google spokesperson noted that the company was carefully considering its options.

This lawsuit is linked to a previous European Union antitrust case, where Google was fined $2.7 billion for abusing its dominance in the search engine market to favor its own price comparison service. The EU’s ruling in that case also aimed to curb Google’s market power and encourage fair competition in the sector.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice has called for Google to divest its Chrome browser and prevent the company from re-entering the browser market for five years, in an effort to limit its control over the digital ecosystem.