In addition to the fine, Google needs to go into settlements with publishers within a two-month duration or it will face everyday fines of up to EUR900 million.

Obviously, Google can appeal in court as it believes it “acted in great faith throughout the entire procedure”. Its interesting to keep in mind that the company did reach an agreement with publishers in other countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia where similar laws were executed.

The antitrust ruling of fining Google in France follows nearly a 7-month period in which the search giant was expected to reach a contract with local publishers to use snippets of their material on Google News. The fine is EUR500 million and is in line with the newest EU regulations.

Unfortunately, Google didnt provide a reasonable offer and could not concur with Agence France-Presse and other publishers on a payment framework. Supposedly, the fee Google wanted to give was less than what it pays for weather condition information and dictionary definitions.

Source 1 (in French) – Source 2