The Couple who Took on Google and Cost the Tech Giant £2bn

In a landmark case for tech regulation, British entrepreneurs Shivaun and Adam Raff took on Google over practices they say destroyed their price comparison site, Foundem. The couple’s legal crusade culminated in a €2.4 billion (£2bn) fine levied on Google in 2017, with the European Court of Justice upholding the ruling last month.

The Raffs launched Foundem in June 2006, only to find their new business penalised by Google’s search filters, which buried it in search results and significantly cut traffic. This filter effectively blocked users from finding their site, preventing Foundem—a multi-category price comparison platform—from competing with Google’s own services.

Initially believing it was a mistake, Shivaun and Adam sent numerous appeals to Google. However, they say they received no response and continued to lose business as Foundem struggled to gain visibility. In contrast, the site performed normally on other search engines, further confirming for the couple that Google was the main barrier. Despite these obstacles, Foundem gained traction when The Gadget Show ranked it the UK’s top comparison site, though Google’s position remained unchanged.

The couple took their concerns to regulators in the UK, US, and EU, with the European Commission ultimately launching an antitrust investigation in 2010. Foundem’s complaint sparked similar claims from competitors like Trivago and Yelp, who alleged they were disadvantaged by Google’s search practices. The European Commission concluded in 2017 that Google had indeed favoured its own shopping service, issuing a record-breaking fine.

Although Foundem shut down in 2016, the Raffs remain involved in legal action. In March, the European Commission launched another investigation under the Digital Markets Act into Google’s parent company, Alphabet, for potential ongoing anti-competitive practices. Google maintains that its current practices comply with regulations and plans to challenge Foundem’s continued claims in court.

As they await their civil damages case in 2026, Adam reflected, “Had we known the toll of this lengthy fight, we might have reconsidered.” Nonetheless, the Raffs remain determined, motivated by their belief in standing up against what they call corporate bullying.

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