The Couple Who Took on Google: A £2 Billion Battle for Fair Play

Launch days are often a mix of excitement and anxiety for startup founders, but for Shivaun Raff and her husband, Adam, June 2006 was particularly daunting. Their price comparison website, Foundem, which they had built from scratch and sacrificed stable jobs for, went live that day. Unbeknownst to them, this moment would signal the start of a long and arduous journey.

Shortly after launching, Foundem faced a search penalty from Google, imposed by one of its automated spam filters. This penalty caused their website to plummet in search rankings for critical terms like “price comparison,” effectively pushing them out of the online marketplace. As Adam recalls, “We were monitoring our pages, and then we saw them all plummet almost immediately.”

The impact was devastating. Foundem relied on user clicks to generate revenue, and without visibility on Google—where most online traffic resides—the couple struggled to earn anything. Despite their pleas to Google for help, two years passed without any response.

Initially, they thought their situation was an error—a false positive misidentifying their site as spam. “We just assumed it was collateral damage and that we could resolve it,” Shivaun explains. However, as time passed, they realized the gravity of their situation. Their website functioned normally on other search engines, but with Google controlling the majority of online traffic, it was irrelevant.

Eventually, the couple learned they were not alone; by the time the European Commission investigated Google in 2017, about 20 other companies, including Kelkoo and Trivago, had come forward with similar grievances. Adam had conceived the idea for Foundem while working in supercomputing, recognizing the potential for a comprehensive comparison service when most sites focused narrowly on specific products.

In a landmark ruling in 2017, the European Commission found Google had unlawfully favored its own comparison shopping service over competitors. The couple, who had once viewed Google as a supportive player in the online space, started suspecting foul play as early as 2008. That suspicion intensified when Foundem was named the best price comparison website by Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, yet Google continued to suppress their visibility.

“When we reached out to Google for help, we got a dismissive response,” recalls Shivaun. “That was when we knew we had to fight back.” The couple approached the press and regulators in the UK, US, and Brussels, ultimately launching a significant antitrust investigation with the European Commission in 2010.

During a pivotal meeting in Brussels, the regulators questioned why they were the first to report these issues. Shivaun speculated that many businesses were intimidated, as their livelihoods depended on Google’s traffic. “We don’t like bullies,” she said, a sentiment that fueled their determination.

The couple awaited the verdict from Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, with a mix of hope and trepidation. When the ruling finally came, the gravity of the situation settled in. While the verdict was a significant victory, their attention quickly shifted to ensuring that the Commission would enforce it.

Following Google’s loss, the couple remained vigilant. They assert that Google’s practices continue to be anti-competitive, prompting the European Commission to investigate further under the new Digital Markets Act. A spokesperson for Google contended that the court ruling pertained only to specific practices from 2008 to 2017, claiming that changes made since then had positively impacted the marketplace.

Meanwhile, the Raffs are pursuing a civil damages claim against Google, expected to start in 2026. However, the long and arduous battle has taken its toll. They were forced to close Foundem in 2016, and Adam acknowledges that knowing the fight would last so long might have altered their initial decision to pursue it.

Reflecting on their journey, Shivaun and Adam remain committed to fighting for a fairer digital landscape. While they achieved a significant legal victory, the fight against what they view as systemic issues in Big Tech continues, highlighting the complexities and challenges faced by small businesses in a digital world dominated by giants.