Poland's UOKiK says Google may have abused dominance in publisher payment talks

Poland's competition regulator UOKiK said it suspects Alphabet and three Google entities abused a dominant position in negotiating payments to Polish publishers for showing articles and snippets in Search, Google News and Discover. The regulator says Google withheld the data publishers needed to judge its offers. These are allegations at an early stage, not a ruling. The maximum fine is 10% of turnover, but the regulator's statement does not give an estimate, and Google Poland says it is reviewing the decision and has licensing deals with more than 70 Polish publications.

• Regulator: Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), Poland
• Named companies: Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited, Google Poland
• Issue: payments for articles and snippets in Search, Google News and Discover
• Maximum fine for abuse of dominance: up to 10% of turnover
• Google Poland says it has licensing deals with over 70 Polish publications