Just recently, very concerning news has emerged and made it to the headline board. The announcement involves the largest search engine giants (GOOGLE) and the regulatory authorities from France. The news suggests that a regulatory authority from France has imposed a fine over Google.
As per the local media sources from France, the regulatory authority that has imposed a fine over Google is the antitrust regulator from France. The sources have confirmed that the fine imposed on Google is almost worth $600 million.
Furthermore, the company has been given a deadline of two months to come up with a proposal for the compensation of the publishers. The publishers, in this case, are the ones whose news is being picked up by Google and the platform publishes them on its platform for free.
The publishers had raised their concerns that they must be provided with compensation by Google and other similar firms for their content provision. The French regulator has been very strict and firm with the deadline it has given Google.
The regulatory authority has announced that if Google does not comply with the instructions and does not come up with a proposal, then it must get ready to face more penalties.
According to the French regulatory authority, Google may end up facing more fines and penalties from the French regulators if it does not comply with the instructions.
The announcement in regards to the imposition of the fine and instructions around Google’s proposal was made by the French regulators on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.
The sources confirm that the exact fine imposed on Google was €500, which translates to $592 million at the time of writing. The French regulator has imposed a fine on Google for its negligence and being unable to comply with the orders.
Furthermore, if Google fails to come up with a proposal and strategy to compensate the publishers for their content, it will end up facing more fines. According to the French regulatory, Google would incur additional penalties that would be in the form of a daily fine.
If Google does not present the compensation plan for the publishers, it would incur a daily fine of up to €900,000 per day, which translates to $1.1 million per day.
Isabelle de Silva, the chief at the antitrust agency in France commented about the way Google has handled the instructions given by the authority. She stated that when a regulatory authority imposes a duty or responsibility, the company must comply with it as it is for its well-being.
The company must prove that it is loyal and cooperative to the country or region it is operating in. Therefore, the company needs to accept the responsibility in both the letter and the spirit. Unfortunately, Google has failed to comply with the responsibility given to it by the regulator.
Given the current circumstances, there are high chances that the share prices for Google may end up taking a hit due to the hit from the French regulator.
