Google has been fined 250 million euros ($272 million) by French regulators for breaching commitments related to paying media companies for their content and using material for its AI chatbot without proper notification.
The European Union introduced neighboring rights in 2019 to allow media outlets to demand compensation for their content being used by online platforms like Google. In France, Google and Facebook agreed to pay some media outlets for their articles displayed in web searches after initial resistance.
French competition authorities fined Google 500 million euros in 2021 for failure to negotiate fairly with news organizations. Despite committing to negotiate in good faith in 2022, Google has now been fined again for not meeting those commitments and failing to inform news publishers about the use of their content for training its AI platform.
In addition, Google did not provide publishers and news agencies with a technical solution to object to the use of their content, making it challenging for them to negotiate fair compensation. This led to the imposition of a new fine by the French regulator for Google’s actions.
Various European countries, including Spain and Germany, have also challenged Google over news content and anti-competitive practices. While Spain’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation, Germany’s antitrust regulator shelved a similar probe after Google adjusted its News Showcase service to address competition concerns.
These actions highlight the ongoing tensions between tech giants like Google and news publishers over the use and compensation for news content online. The fines and investigations serve as a reminder of the importance of fair negotiations and transparent agreements between platforms and media organizations.
