Stockholm’s Patent and Market Court ordered Google to pay $2 billion to Swedish fintech Klarna for antitrust damages linked to its Price Runner comparison site. The sum, which includes nearly $500 million in accrued interest, is the largest award ever in a Swedish competition case but falls short of Klarna’s claim for about $8 billion. Klarna acquired Price Runner in 2022 to fuel a shopping‑app strategy.

The judgment held Google repeatedly gave its own price‑comparison service more prominent placement than rivals on search result pages in the UK, Sweden and Denmark between 2008 and 2023. Regulators had already flagged the practice after a 2017 European Commission ruling, and the case arrives as the EU’s Digital Markets Act, effective from 2022, seeks to ban self‑preferencing by dominant platforms.

Klarna’s shares surged roughly 10 % in pre‑market trade, reflecting relief that the payout will fund its price‑comparison engine, a pillar of its push into AI‑driven “agentic commerce.” The decision also sends a warning signal to other Big Tech firms about EU competition enforcement. Google said it will review the ruling and consider further legal steps, keeping the dispute open.