Polish regulator suspects Google abused dominant position in publisher payment talks

By Marta Maciag and Rafal Wojciech Nowak

Poland, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Poland's antitrust watchdog said on Monday it suspected Alphabet's Google of abusing its dominant market position while negotiating content payments with domestic media publishers.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, known by its Polish abbreviation UOKiK, said the charges relate to how Google negotiates remuneration for displaying articles and snippets in search results, Google News and Discover services.

The companies named in the statement are Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google Poland.

Google Poland said it was reviewing the text of UOKiK's decision. It added that it has licensing deals with over 70 publications in Poland, and was "the only platform with a structured approach to remunerating news publishers at scale."

UOKiK alleges Google failed to provide publishers with the necessary data to properly assess offers, leading to an information imbalance that prevented fair negotiations on payment for content.

"Big tech companies cannot place themselves above the law," UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny said in the statement, adding that the lack of data led to negotiations becoming illusory and tending towards Google imposing terms.

The dispute stems from a 2024 Polish copyright law amendment that implemented an EU directive under which online services may use press publishers' content in return for remuneration.

The maximum fine for abusing a dominant market position may amount to 10% of a company's turnover, the regulator said.

It added that the investigation was separate from the European Commission probe opened in December 2025 into whether Google used publishers' content in its AI services without adequate compensation or giving them the ability to object.

The Polish probe, which focuses on Google Search, Google News and Discover services, is being carried out independently following an agreement with the Commission, UOKiK said.

In December 2024, Polish e-commerce group Allegro's price comparison platform Ceneo sued Alphabet for 2.33 billion zlotys ($568 million) in damages for alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

(Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak; Editing by Joyjeet Das)