FAQs

The claim is about Google’s conduct in the market for online advertising and in particular display advertising on websites and mobile apps. In 2021, Google was fined by the French Competition Authority for abusing its dominant position in relation to this market, known as “ad tech services”. The claim alleges that all UK-based publishers of websites and apps (and, if applicable, their publisher partners such as resellers) that received revenue from the sale of online display ads may have suffered financial losses due to Google’s practice and are entitled to compensation. Compensation should reflect the higher ad sales revenues which you should have earned if Google had not acted in breach of competition law.

Simply put, ad tech is the technology powering the placement of online ads that billions of consumers see in their everyday lives, be it on a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone. Digital advertising has experienced spectacular growth, exceeding $490 billion in 2021, so it’s no surprise that selling digital ads has become a key source of revenue for publishers of online content.

The claim is against various companies that form part of the Google group of companies. These companies are the largest and most important ad tech vendors at every step of the value chain, with market shares as high as 90-100%. 

We allege that Google has breached competition law, which prohibits companies from abusing a dominant position. The French competition authority has already decided that Google’s conduct caused considerable financial losses to Publishers, by depressing their revenue in two different ways:

(i) depriving publishers of the ability to benefit from undistorted competition between ad exchanges, which would have exerted competitive pressure on Google to lower its very high AdX commissions from around 20%.

(ii) limiting competition in ad auctions, which prevented publishers from achieving higher prices for their impressions.

Google’s ad tech practices are also under scrutiny in lawsuits and investigations around the world, including ongoing investigations by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, and lawsuits brought by a coalition of US State Attorneys General and by the US Department of Justice respectively. Compensation should reflect the higher ad sales revenues which you should have earned if Google had not acted in breach of competition law.

Collective proceedings are commonly referred to as a ‘class action’, ‘class claim’, ‘group claim’ or ‘group action’. This is a specialised form of legal procedure available in the Competition Appeal Tribunal which enables a class representative to bring one action on behalf of numerous people affected by an infringement of competition law.  

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has certified the action and made a ‘Collective Proceedings Order’. The class representative will next have to prove its case at trial.

This claim has been filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The Tribunal is a specialist judicial body that is based in London but covers the whole of the UK and hears certain competition law and regulatory disputes. It has cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business and accountancy. The Tribunal publishes its Rules and Guidance, together with information about what it does, on its website www.catribunal.org.uk.

Following a hearing on 8-10 May 2024, the Tribunal certified the collective action, meaning it has given permission for Ad Tech Collective Action LLP to pursue the claims against Google. In due course, the Tribunal will set a timetable to trial.

If the action proceeds to trial (i.e. if it is not settled beforehand), the Competition Appeal Tribunal will decide whether to make an aggregate award of damages. If made, the award will be distributed to class members based on a distribution method approved by the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Generally, disputes of this scale take a number of years to resolve.

Please check this website for further updates.

The claim could settle at any point. Any settlement reached between Ad Tech Collective Action LLP and Google must first be approved by the Competition Appeal Tribunal and must be just and reasonable. If Ad Tech Collective Action settles the claim in exchange for a sum of money from Google, that sum of money will be distributed to class members.

You should have received an email from the Mr Arthur’s team informing you of the consolidation of Mr Arthur and Mr Pollack’s claims. To stay informed with Ad Tech Collective Action LLP’s consolidated claim and to receive further updates about the case, please register your interest using the form below.

If you are a UK-domiciled “Publisher”, i.e. you published content on websites or apps and received revenue from the sales of online display ads between 1 January 2014 and 30 November 2022, you are automatically included in the class. If, however, you do not wish to be a part of the class you may opt out by clicking here.

If you are a “Publisher Partner”, i.e. a reseller of online display ads on behalf of Publishers, you must actively opt in to be part of the class. You may do so by clicking here.

In order to be included in the class, you must have also been domiciled in the UK on 5 June 2024. If you meet these criteria, you will only be excluded from the class if you fall into one of the following categories:

• Officers, directors or employees of Google, their subsidiaries and any entity in which they have a controlling interest;
• All members of Ad Tech Collective Action LLP’s and Google’s respective legal teams and all experts and professional advisors instructed and retained by them, and all funders or insurers involved in connection with the claim;
• All members of the Competition Appeal Tribunal assigned to these proceedings, their parents, their spouses or civil partners or any persons with whom they cohabit, and their children;
• Any judge involved in any appeal in the claim, and their parents, their spouse or civil partner or any persons with whom they cohabit, and their children;
• Any deceased person; and
• Any registered corporate entity or other registered entity with legal personality which has been struck off or dissolved more than 6 years prior to the claim being given permission to proceed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

If you are a UK-domiciled Publisher, you do not need to do anything right now — you will automatically be included in the action unless you choose to opt out. While registering on the site will help us keep you informed about the process, it is not a requirement.

If you are a Publisher Partner, you will need to actively opt in if you want to participate in the action. Publisher Partners must opt in prior to 28 May 2025.

You may opt in or opt out by filling in the relevant webform on this website.

The CPO Notice, which you can find in the ‘Documents’ section of this website, contains more details about the claim, including the terms ‘Publisher’ and ‘Publisher Partner’.

You do not need to pay anything for this claim. This is a funded claim which means that you will not need to pay for any legal fees or other costs of the legal proceedings to be included in this claim and instead a third party is paying for these costs.

The costs of bringing the claim are covered by funds and managed accounts that are ultimately managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Fortress is a renowned litigation financier which provides litigation funding to enable the pursuit and successful recovery of damages from legal claims.

You will also not be at risk of having to pay for Google’s legal costs should the claim not succeed, as Ad Tech Collective Action LLP has obtained ‘after the event’ insurance to cover any adverse costs risk.

Compensation will be for loss of revenue caused by Google’s anti-competitive conduct in ad tech markets for online display advertising. Our experts estimate that the value of the claim is up to £13.6 billion. The precise value of the claim will become known once our experts are able to analyse data which Google will be obliged to provide at a later stage of the claim. 

Affected Publishers and Publisher Partners will be entitled to a share of compensation, but please note that recovery is not guaranteed. Now that Ad Tech Collective Action LLP be certified to act as the class representative, it will need to prove its case at trial unless the case settles.

It could take a few years for the action to reach a resolution. It may be that the claims will settle without having to go to trial in which case compensation could be available sooner. 

Yes, you can. We encourage you to discuss the case with colleagues, friends and family, as well as sharing updates on social media.

You will receive updates about the progress of this claim when you sign up to follow the case using the Register button above. In addition, you can track the updates of the claim via this website and via social media channels.

No. The funding arrangements in place, described at Q14 above, mean that class members will not need to pay anything to be part of the claim. These funding arrangements also mean that class members will not be liable for any financial risk should the claim be unsuccessful.

Ad Tech Collective Action LLP is the class representative – a limited liability partnership that has been incorporated to manage the claim against Google. The members of the partnership are Claudio Pollack, Charles Arthur and Kate Wellington. Claudio Pollack has spent more than 10 years in Director-level roles at Ofcom and is experienced in competition, consumer, and small business matters. Charles Arthur has been a leading technology and science journalist and editor for more than 30 years, during which he has written for various national publications, including The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Independent. Kate Wellington is a lawyer by background (including in competition litigation matters) and is CEO of the Costs Lawyers Standards Board. Kate also led the campaigning and policy arm of the legal team during her time at Which?.

Claudio, Charles, and Kate are championing the cause for UK publishers of websites or mobile apps, who should have earned more from their ad sales since 1st January 2014.

Humphries Kerstetter LLP, Hausfeld & Co. LLP, and Geradin Partners are specialist law firms who are working together with Ad Tech Collective Action LLP to bring this claim. Further information can be found here. 

Ad Tech Collective Action LLP is responsible for, amongst other things, communicating with the class and issuing formal notices to the class members. Claudio, Charles, and Kate, as the members of Ad Tech Collective Action LLP, will make decisions on the conduct of the claim and, in particular, will evaluate any offer of settlement that Google may make and decide whether to present it to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for their approval.

If you have any questions or would like any further information, please contact the class representative’s legal team here.