German court orders Google to pay damages to user scammed by fake shop
The company may appeal the decision.
Image by Thaspol Sangsee | Shutterstock
- A Bavarian court ordered Google to compensate a user who lost €490 after clicking a paid ad for a fake shop.
- Google said the ruling did not consider its views and is weighing an appeal against the decision.
- The case could set a precedent for holding search engines liable when paid ads lead users to scam websites.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A court in the German state of Bavaria found Google responsible after a user was scammed by an online store that turned out to be fake.
The tech giant was ordered to pay damages to the scam victim, with the case expected to set a precedent for others in similar situations.
Last July, user Harald K. was looking for a bike rack on Google when he saw a paid ad from a bike shop.
This is where he ordered the rack, paying €490 (about $560) for it. However, the product never arrived because the shop was a scam site.
The website had already been deemed fake by a consumer protection organization, and this information had been passed on to Google. However, its ads were still shown in the search engine.
Considering this, the Starnberg District Court ordered Google to compensate the user by reimbursing the purchase price and covering court costs, totaling around €200 (about $230).
Uno reverse to Google
Free online services are rarely truly free, with users often paying with their data instead of money.
Because users provide Google with their data and engagement, the court found that this constituted a special relationship and the company is obligated to protect their privacy, according to German news outlet BR24.
This obligation is based on Section 241, Paragraph 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
The court found that Google had failed to ensure its users would not be scammed by a fraudulent website that paid it to place its ads in search results.
A Google spokesperson said the court ruling was issued without taking the company's views into account. As a result, Google is considering appealing.
Nevertheless, this situation could set a precedent by holding a search engine accountable for causing damage to a user through fake advertising. This means that in the future, victims of a similar nature may get compensated.
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Buyer vigilance wherever you shop
This is just one bad example of people not being able to trust online ads.
However, with the rise of AI, ending up on a scam page might become even easier.
It’s been reported that shopping recommendations from AI agents, such as ChatGPT, may direct users to cloned retailer websites.
Considering this, users should check the website URL, avoid trusting deals that are too good to be true, and choose official retailer sites.
However, even if users decide to switch from online shopping to physical stores, they still need to be wary of scams that occur inside physical stores, where original items are swapped for fakes, as in cases involving Apple products at Target.
