In an inspiring David-and-Goliath story, British couple Shivaun and Adam Raff have taken on tech giant Google and achieved a groundbreaking ruling that resulted in a staggering fine of ₹21,824 crore for anti-competitive practices that harmed their company, Foundem.
The couple started their journey in 2006 with the launch of Foundem, a price-comparison website aimed at making online shopping easier by allowing users to compare prices from various platforms. Although Foundem went live in June of that year, its growth was abruptly halted when Google imposed a penalty.
This penalty effectively removed Foundem from Google’s search results, causing the website to plummet in rankings for crucial search terms like “price comparison” and “comparison shopping,” which were essential to their business model.
Google’s 15-Year Legal Battle Ends in Defeat
Google has faced a significant legal setback in the UK, losing a 15-year battle against a couple and being ordered to pay £2.4 billion (approximately ₹26,172 crore) in fines for abusing its dominant position in the market for shopping comparison services. T
he tech giant appealed the fine originally imposed by the European Commission in 2017 to the European Court of Justice, but the court rejected the appeal in September, according to a report by the BBC.
In response to the ruling, Google expressed its disappointment.
The victorious couple, Shivaun Raff and her husband, Adam, recently shared how their pioneering price comparison website, Foundem, was adversely affected by a Google search penalty caused by one of the search engine’s automated spam filters.
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Impact of Google’s Search Penalty on Foundem
The couple’s journey with Foundem took a challenging turn after launching their price comparison startup in 2006. They left their stable, well-paying jobs to create a platform that allowed users to compare product prices and charged a fee for clicks that directed customers to other websites.
However, right after Foundem went live, the founders quickly noticed a dramatic drop in their search rankings for essential terms like “price comparison” and “comparison shopping.” This decline made it nearly impossible for their target audience to find the site, severely hindering their ability to generate revenue.
“We were monitoring our pages and saw their rankings plummet almost immediately,” Adam, 58, shared with the BBC.
In their first interview since the recent ruling, Shivaun and Adam discussed their initial belief that the website’s struggles were due to a simple mistake.
“We thought this was just collateral damage, that we had been mistakenly flagged as spam,” Shivaun, 55, explained. “We assumed we just needed to reach the right channels to resolve it.”
Adam added, “If you’re denied traffic, you have no business.”
No Response from Google
The couple behind Foundem submitted multiple requests to Google over two years, seeking to lift restrictions on their site, but they received no feedback. By late 2008, just weeks before Christmas, they noticed their website was slow to load. Initially fearing a cyber attack, Adam explained to the media that the issue was actually a surge in traffic to their site as more users began to visit it.
Despite being recognized as the best price comparison website in the UK by Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, Adam and Shivaun struggled to get a satisfactory response from Google about their site’s search performance.
This led them to reach out to regulators in the UK, US, and Brussels. Unfortunately, Foundem was forced to shut down in 2016, but they are now pursuing a civil damages claim against Google, which is set to start in the first half of 2026.
Fine on Google by the European Commission
In 2017, the European Commission imposed the largest fine in its history against Google, a record that was later surpassed by a £4.3 billion penalty. In response, Google highlighted that it had made significant changes in 2017 to comply with the Commission’s ruling.
The company stated, “Our approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for over 800 comparison shopping services.”
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FAQs
Q.1. What is Foundem?
Ans. Foundem is a price comparison website launched in 2006 by Shivaun and Adam Raff, allowing users to compare prices across various online platforms.
Q.2. Why did Google impose a penalty on Foundem?
Ans. Google penalized Foundem, effectively removing it from search results, which drastically affected its visibility and business model, causing a significant drop in rankings for essential search terms.
Q.3. What was the outcome of the legal battle against Google?
Ans. After a 15-year legal battle, the European Commission ordered Google to pay £2.4 billion (approximately ₹26,172 crore) for abusing its market dominance in shopping comparison services.
Q.4. How did the search penalty impact Foundem’s business?
Ans. The search penalty resulted in a dramatic decline in Foundem’s search rankings, making it nearly impossible for users to find the site and significantly hindering revenue generation.
Q.5. What are the next steps for Shivaun and Adam Raff?
Ans. Following the shutdown of Foundem in 2016, Shivaun and Adam are pursuing a civil damages claim against Google, with proceedings set to begin in the first half of 2026.
