In June 2006, husband and wife Adam and Shivaun Raff excitedly launched Foundem, a price comparison service designed to help users compare prices for products in search results.
But shortly after launching, the couple encountered an unexpected hurdle: Google.
Google automatically applied spam filters to Foundem, causing it to rank low in searches for terms like “price comparison” or “comparison shopping.” For Foundem, which earned commissions when users clicked on products listed on its site, this placement was financially devastating.
The Raffs reached out to Google for assistance, hoping for a review of the situation. But after two years, their ranking hadn’t improved. Oddly, Foundem appeared normally on other search engines, the Raffs told the BBC. It didn’t matter, they said, because “everybody uses Google.”
However, the couple began to suspect something was wrong when they received a notice three weeks before Christmas: Their website was loading too slowly. Ironically, the slowdown was due to a surge in traffic. Foundem had just been named the UK’s best price comparison site by a local media outlet.
They again reached out to Google for assistance, but their requests went unanswered. Frustrated, they took their story to the press, eventually drawing the attention of regulators in the UK, the U.S., and the EU.
In November 2010, the European Commission launched an investigation. By 2015, it filed formal charges, and in 2017, commissioner Margrethe Vestager delivered the ruling: Google was fined a record 2.4 billion euros (about $2.5 billion) for abusing its market dominance in price comparison. Google’s final appeal attempt to overturn the fine was dismissed in 2021.
However, for the Raffs, this outcome didn’t bring celebration. “We don’t like bullies,” they told the BBC, describing the toll of the lengthy legal battle.
The legal battle isn’t over yet. The Raffs have sued Google for damages in a civil case set to begin in 2026. Even if they win, the victory will likely be hollow—Foundem closed in 2016.
In the end, Foundem may have caused more trouble for Google than Google did for Foundem.
Image | Alex Dudar (Unsplash)
View 0 comments