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

PARIS—France’s Competition Authority 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 regulator said that Google had violated its April 2020 orders that the

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company must negotiate with publishers for the right to show snippets of their content in its search results. 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 such as Agence France-Presse.

Isabelle de Silva,

head of the competition authority, said the fine—among the larger fines from the French regulator in recent years—takes into account the “exceptional seriousness” of the alleged violations.

“When the Authority imposes orders on companies, they are required to apply them scrupulously, respecting their letter and spirit. In this instance, unfortunately, that was not the case,” Ms. de Silva said.

“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…

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