Poland's antitrust watchdog charges Google over publisher payment negotiations

Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) said on Monday it suspected Alphabet's Google of abusing its dominant market position while negotiating remuneration with domestic media publishers for displaying articles and snippets in Search, Google News and Discover. UOKiK alleged Google failed to provide publishers with the data needed to assess offers, making negotiations "illusory." The named companies are Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google Poland. The dispute stems from a 2024 Polish copyright-law amendment implementing the EU press-publishers' rights directive; the maximum fine is 10% of turnover. UOKiK noted its probe is separate from the European Commission probe opened in December 2025 into whether Google used publishers' content in its AI services without adequate compensation or an opt-out.