Website launched to funnel claims against Google

A law firm and public relations consultant launched a website Tuesday aimed at facilitating antitrust claims against Google in Europe, adding another headache for the search engine as it faces heightened scrutiny from regulators on the continent.

{mosads}Avisa, a public relations firm that represents a company that filed an antitrust complaint against Google, and law firm Hausfeld are behind the Google Redress and Integrity Platform (GRIP). The two companies said in a statement that the website gives “victims of Google’s anti-competitive business practices in Europe a mechanism to evaluate their potential claims.”

“Rival online services were denied a fair display in search results because of Google’s practices. Google was also able to generate additional profit, often at the consumers’ expense,” said Laurent Geelhand, a managing partner for Hausfeld in Brussels, in a statement. “Any person or entity that engaged in e-commerce in the EU may have a civil claim and through GRIP.”

Claims will be considered first by Avisa, and then potentially passed on to Hausfeld. The law firm will “further assess the merits of any potential claims and together with you will consider the way forward,” according to the website.

Google declined a request for comment.

The website builds off of the statement of objections, essentially a charging document, filed by European regulators against Google in April. They alleged in the filing that Google hurts competition by favoring results from its own comparison shopping service.

Last week, the company responded to the allegations by saying that the regulator’s contentions were “wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics.”