Google Avoids More Fines After Settling French News Dispute
- Google made antitrust pledges to address concerns in France
- French competition authority makes Google commitments binding
This article is for subscribers only.
Google brought an end to a dispute with publishers and avoided further fines after winning regulatory approval for pledges that pave the way for payments for displaying snippets of their news articles on its platforms.
The French competition authority said Google significantly improved commitments it initially offered last year, which now address its concerns and have been made binding, ending the case. The Alphabet Inc. unit made promises last year in the wake of a 500 million euro ($527 million) fine for failing to follow an earlier order to thrash out fair deals with publishers. The company also agreed to withdraw its challenge against the penalty.