Specialist collective redress law firm KP Law, representing Roger Kaye KC, is preparing to file a multi-billion-pound claim accusing Google of abusing its dominant position in online search advertising.

The claim seeks to provide redress for thousands of businesses and commercial entities that, due to Google’s alleged unlawful conduct, were forced to pay inflated costs for search advertising.

KP Law expects to file an application for a collective proceedings order at the Competition Appeal Tribunal before Christmas. This will be on an opt-out basis. The claim will be brought by former judge Mr Roger Kaye KC and is supported by a range of prominent experts, including Keystone Strategy, and is fully funded.

It will be the latest in a series of claims brought in the tribunal against Google and its parent, Alphabet, over abuse of a dominant position, but the first on behalf of this particular group of affected businesses.

KP Law was created earlier this year through the merger of Keller Postman UK and Lanier Longstaff Hedar & Roberts, and has offices in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester. 

It has already boosted its competition law practice with the recruitment of experienced competition litigator Emma Birch, who joined as a partner from Fieldfisher in August and is heavily involved in the Google claim.

Duncan Hedar, head of KP Law’s competition department, says: “Google’s conduct in the search advertising market has been found to be abusive by both the European Commission and more recently by a US court in proceedings brought by the US Department of Justice. 

“Mr Kaye’s case is that businesses have overpaid for services offered by Google as a result of that abusive conduct and it’s only right that they be able to recover those losses. It is important that competition law continues to protect the rights of businesses and doesn’t allow monopoly power to create a very unlevel playing field.”