Google told the Financial Times that it intended to appeal the reversal to the country's Supreme Court. It said the incident "took place nearly a decade ago" and that it had "addressed [it] at the time." The lawsuit "has no merit," the company added.

The suit could prove costly to Google if successful. The internet giant already paid $22.5 million in US penalties over its Safari practices, but Lloyd believes the UK case could cost considerably more. He estimated that damages could run up to £750 ($921) per person, or £3.3 billion (just over $4 billion) in total. End users might not see much of that money in practice -- instead, this would be more about discouraging Google (or any other tech firm) from engaging in this kind of behavior going forward.