Poland files antitrust charges against four Google entities over publisher content fees

Antitrust charges and corporate scope

On 5 October 2026, the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) launched formal antitrust proceedings against four Google corporate entities. The proceedings target Alphabet Inc. and Google LLC, both based in Wilmington in the United States, alongside Google Ireland Limited in Dublin and Google Poland in Warsaw. The regulator investigates whether Google abused its dominant position in the search engine market when negotiating remuneration for journalistic publications. The disputed content includes articles, snippets, and media materials displayed across Google Search, Google News, and the Google Discover mobile feed. Under Polish and European competition law, companies found guilty of abusing market dominance face fines reaching up to 10% of their annual turnover.

Information asymmetry during licensing talks

The dispute centres on allegations that Google failed to reach agreements with most Polish press publishers while withholding essential commercial data. UOKiK determined that Google presented fee proposals to publisher associations without providing the parameters, revenue figures, or documents used in its calculations. By keeping detailed metrics regarding how user content drives search interactions and advertising revenue private, the technology firm created an information asymmetry. Publishers, who rely heavily on digital search platforms for reader distribution, were consequently unable to verify the fairness of Google's offers or formulate data-driven counterproposals. UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny stated that withholding statutory information undermined equal bargaining between the parties.

Big tech companies cannot place themselves above the law. The rules clearly specify what information Google should provide to publishers in order to settle accounts fairly for the content it uses. The lack of this data led to a situation where negotiations became illusory and aimed at imposing terms by the market dominant. For such actions, competition law provides for a fine of up to 10 percent of an enterprise's turnover.

Legal framework and regulatory remedies

The regulatory action stems from Poland's 2024 copyright law revision, which enacted the European Union DSM Directive (Directive 2019/790) into national legislation. The statute gives press publishers the legal right to receive fair compensation when online aggregators and search engines display excerpts or AI-generated summaries of their reporting. UOKiK formulated two specific accusations against Google, focusing on the potential imposition of unfair licensing terms and the deliberate obstruction of compensation negotiations. The watchdog emphasized that holding market dominance is not illegal in itself, but using that power to dictate non-negotiable terms breaches Article 9 of Poland's competition act and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. If voluntary talks fail, the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) holds the authority to set binding remuneration rates through statutory mediation.

Market valuation and parallel inquiries

The financial stakes in the Polish digital media market remain substantial. According to calculations conducted by consultancy firm Fehr Advice & Partners for the Association of Digital Press Publishers, Polish journalistic content generates an estimated 862 million PLN in Google search revenues, out of a total Polish search engine market worth 2.4 billion PLN (577 million EUR). UOKiK noted that its inquiry focuses strictly on conduct during publisher negotiations prior to formal UKE mediation, rather than determining specific fee amounts. The proceedings run in parallel with a European Commission investigation into Google's use of publisher material to train artificial intelligence models, as well as a separate Polish antitrust case against Apple.