French regulator hits Google with $272m fine over media licensing deal

French Competition Authority says tech giant fails to respect commitments and negotiate in ‘good faith’ with publishers.

France’s competition watchdog has fined Google 250 million euros ($272m) for breaching commitments to media companies on content licensing.

The French Competition Authority said on Wednesday that it was imposing the fine as part of additional measures over a 2019 case that organisations representing French magazines and newspapers had lodged against the United States tech giant and other online platforms. The media outlets accused the tech companies of making billions from their content without sharing the revenue with those who gathered it.

In 2021, the watchdog fined Google 500 million euros ($592m) for failing to negotiate in good faith. The dispute appeared to be resolved in 2022 when the company dropped its appeal against the fine.

But in Wednesday’s statement, the authority said Google violated the terms of four out of seven commitments agreed in the settlement, including conducting negotiations with publishers in “good faith” and providing transparent information.

The watchdog said Google’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot Bard – since rebranded Gemini – was trained on content from publishers and news agencies without notifying them.

Google has pledged not to contest the facts as part of settlement proceedings, the watchdog said, adding that the company also proposed a series of remedies concerning certain shortcomings.