UOKiK charges Google in dispute with Polish publishers
The authority alleges that in talks about payment for article snippets, Google did not disclose to publishers the data required by law. Four companies in the group face a fine of up to 10 percent of turnover.
On Monday, October 5, 2026, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), Tomasz Chróstny, brought charges against four companies from the Google group: Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google Poland. The authority suspects that Google is abusing its dominant position in the Polish internet search market in negotiations with press publishers over payment for their articles. The case covers the search engine, Google News and Google Discover, a set of news tailored to the user on phones and tablets.
The payment obligation stems from the 2024 amendment to copyright law, which implemented the EU DSM Directive on copyright in the digital single market. The platform must agree terms with the publisher and provide the data needed to calculate the amount. According to UOKiK, Google proposed rates but did not disclose how it uses the publications, how much it earns from them, or how it calculated the offer. Publishers therefore could not assess the proposal or present their own. “Big tech companies cannot place themselves above the law,” Chróstny said.
In a statement to the media, cited by “Rzeczpospolita” and Money.pl, Google says it has licensing agreements with more than 5,500 news services in 26 EU countries, including the Polish Press Agency, and settles accounts according to a uniform methodology. The company announced it would analyze the charges.
The Association of Digital Publishers Employers (ZPWC), whose members include Agora, Wirtualna Polska and Ringier Axel Springer Polska, negotiated with Google for nearly a year without reaching an agreement. Mediation before the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) also failed. The association estimates that Google should pay Polish publishers as much as PLN 514 million annually. UOKiK is not assessing the level of the rates, only the way the talks were conducted; if the parties do not reach an agreement, the amount may be set by the President of UKE.
The charges do not yet mean a penalty — the authority will decide on sanctions after the proceedings are completed. Independently, since December 2025 the European Commission has been examining whether Google uses publishers’ content in artificial intelligence (AI) tools without payment and without the possibility of objection. For companies that build traffic and sales on content and SEO (search engine optimization), both proceedings could change the rules under which third-party materials appear in search results.