French court orders Google to pay 20m euros to Belgian media group Rossel

American internet giant Google must pay the Belgian media group Rossel damages of just over 20 million euros. That decided a court in the French capital Paris, Google confirmed. The company is appealing the ruling.

Rossel amongst others publishes Le Soir and Sudinfo in Belgium and is the third-largest publisher of regional newspapers in France. The group accused Google of anti-competitive practices in the advertising technology sector.

The case has been ongoing for several years and follows a penalty imposed on Google in 2021 by the French competition authority for abuse of a dominant position in the online advertising market. According to Rossel, Google forced an unlawful intermediary position between the publisher and advertisers, distorting prices and skimming off a significant portion of the advertising value.

Rossel has now only been partially vindicated by the court, which rejected several claims. The Belgian group had demanded compensation totalling 832 million euros. This amount was calculated with the help of Deloitte and, according to Rossel CEO Bernard Marchant, covered the damage between 2014 and 2030.

“We note that the court rejected the vast majority of the excessive claims,” a Google spokesperson declared. “However, we disagree with the ruling as a whole and are appealing.” According to the company, “opportunistic lawsuits” such as this one are “based on misinterpretations of the advertising technology sector”.

^{Illustration © PHOTO Christian Charisius/dpa}