Google’s business and advertising practices have always been a controversial issue for the company. In recent years, lawsuits against Google significantly rose, and watchdogs believe the company is using its dominance to manipulate the market. Now, the Alphabet-owned company could face a $25.4 billion fine in British and Dutch courts. As per the report, two lawsuits will be filed in these courts in the coming weeks. The lawsuit, filed by a group of publishers, claims Google has been benefiting from “unfair advertising practices.” This is not the first time that Google has gone into a war with publishers. Last year, the company paid $267 million in fines to French publishers over manipulating the market. The European Union even forced Google to sign a contract with over 300 publishers in the continent. “It is time that Google owns up to its responsibilities and pays back the damages it has caused to this important industry. That is why today we are announcing these actions across two jurisdictions to obtain compensation for EU and UK publishers,” law firm Geradin Partners said in a statement.
Google may face a hefty fine in UK and Dutch over advertising practices
Of course, Google has reacted to the lawsuit, saying it works “constructively” with the EU publishers. The company spokesperson even told Reuters that the lawsuit is “speculative and opportunistic.” Additionally, Google said it wants to “fight it vigorously.” In the UK, the authorities want to recover compensation for all the websites that carry banner advertising, and traditional publishers are also included. However, the Dutch lawsuit aims at all affected publishers. A $25.4 billion fine is not a small number to be ignored, and Google lawyers will do their best to avoid paying this hefty fine. These fines are coming at the days when Google is reportedly preparing for an economic crisis and even had to cancel the next generation Pixelbook to cut costs.
