Google Fined $593 Million in France Over Treatment of News Publishers

By Sam Schechner

PARIS--France's Competition Authority has fined Google $593 million for allegedly violating orders to negotiate paid deals with news publishers, raising pressure on the company in a global fight over how and whether tech companies should pay for news.

The French competition regulator said Tuesday that Google had violated the regulator's 2020 orders that its Alphabet Inc. parent company must negotiate with publishers for the right to show snippets of their content in its search result. Those orders came after complaints from publishers that Google was sidestepping France's implementation of a new European Union copyright directive.

Google has since reached paid deals with some French news publishers, such as Le Monde and Le Figaro, but not with others.

"We are very disappointed with this decision," a Google spokeswoman said. "We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms."

Write to Sam Schechner at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2021 04:34 ET (08:34 GMT)

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