BERLIN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Google must pay the

German price comparison platform Idealo approximately 465

million euros ($542 million) in damages for market abuse, a

Berlin court has ruled.

The court found that Google had abused its dominant market

position in two case decisions and ordered the U.S. technology

giant to pay damages, both rulings can be appealed, a court

spokesperson told Reuters.

In addition to Idealo, the company behind another German

price comparison site, Producto, will also be awarded 107

million euros.

Following the rulings, Idealo - a subsidiary of the German

media group Axel Springer - said that it would continue its

legal action against Google.

"We will continue to fight - because market abuse must have

consequences and must not become a lucrative business model that

pays off despite fines and damages payments," said Idealo

co-founder Albrecht von Sonntag.

Idealo had demanded 3.3 billion euros, including interest,

from Google. The company accused the search engine operator of

abusing its market for price comparisons between 2008 and 2023.

Google strongly rejects the rulings and will appeal, said a

spokesperson for the company.

Google said it had made changes in 2017 to ensure rival

comparison shopping services were given the same opportunity as

its own Google Shopping to display ads on its search results

page.

"The changes we made in 2017 have proven successful without

intervention from the European Commission," said the

spokesperson.

"The number of price comparison sites in Europe using the

Shopping Unit designed by the remedy has increased from seven to

1,550."

($1 = 0.8575 euros)