Google is facing fresh antitrust scrutiny in Poland over the way it negotiates payments with news publishers for displaying their content across its digital services.
Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, known as UOKiK, said it suspects Google of potentially abusing its dominant market position during negotiations with domestic media publishers. The investigation concerns remuneration for articles and snippets that appear through Google Search, Google News and Discover.
According to the Polish regulator, Google may have failed to provide publishers with sufficient information needed to properly assess the payment offers presented during negotiations. UOKiK said this could have created an information imbalance between Google and publishers and weakened their ability to negotiate fair terms.
The regulator’s concerns relate specifically to the way remuneration discussions were conducted rather than a final determination that Google has violated competition law. The investigation is still ongoing, and Google has not been found guilty of abusing its market position at this stage.
UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny said large technology companies must comply with applicable laws and should not use their market position to impose terms on smaller businesses. The regulator argues that negotiations can become ineffective when one side does not have sufficient information to evaluate the financial terms being offered.
The dispute is linked to changes made to Poland’s copyright framework in 2024. The changes implemented a European Union directive concerning the rights of press publishers and remuneration for the use of their content by online services.
Under the updated framework, digital platforms can use qualifying publishers’ content subject to the applicable legal arrangements, including remuneration. This created a need for platforms and publishers to negotiate payment terms.
The latest investigation focuses on how Google handled those negotiations.
Google Search is one of the most widely used online information services, while Google News and Discover provide users with access to articles and news recommendations from publishers. News organisations depend on digital platforms for audience reach, although publishers have also raised concerns in various markets about traffic, revenue and the use of their content.
The Polish regulator’s investigation comes amid wider international scrutiny of Google’s relationship with publishers.
In recent years, news organisations and regulators in several countries have examined how major technology platforms use publisher content and how changes to search and artificial intelligence products can affect traffic and revenue.
Google has previously maintained that publishers have control over whether their websites appear in Google Search and Google News. The company has also said its services send substantial traffic to news organisations. Google states that publishers can choose whether and how their content appears in its search products.
The company also has programmes through which it pays publishers for certain forms of licensed or curated content. Google News Showcase is one such programme, under which Google says it has committed significant funding to support participating news organisations.
However, the Polish case deals with a different issue. UOKiK is examining whether Google’s conduct during negotiations over legally required remuneration may have disadvantaged publishers.
The regulator said the companies named in the investigation include Alphabet, Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google Poland. Reuters reported that the companies had not immediately responded to requests for comment.
If the regulator ultimately determines that Google abused its dominant position, the company could face a significant financial penalty. UOKiK said the maximum fine for an abuse of a dominant market position can reach 10 percent of a company’s turnover. However, this is the maximum statutory level and does not mean that such a penalty has been imposed or that Google will necessarily receive a fine.
The Polish investigation is also separate from another European Commission investigation involving Google and publishers.
The European Commission opened a separate probe in December 2025 concerning whether Google used publishers’ content in its artificial intelligence services without providing adequate compensation or sufficient ability for publishers to object. The Polish investigation focuses on payment negotiations relating to Google Search, Google News and Discover.
The distinction between the two investigations is important because they examine different aspects of Google’s relationship with publishers.
The Polish case is primarily concerned with the negotiation of remuneration for content appearing in Google’s existing search and news products. The European Commission investigation, meanwhile, is focused on the use of publisher content in Google’s artificial intelligence services.
The latest action in Poland adds to the regulatory pressure facing major technology companies in Europe. Authorities across the region have increasingly examined whether dominant digital platforms provide fair conditions to businesses that depend on their services.
For news publishers, the issue is particularly important because search engines and recommendation platforms can have a major influence on how readers discover articles online. At the same time, publishers must balance the benefits of digital visibility with concerns about compensation for the use and distribution of their content.
The case also highlights the broader debate over how digital platforms and news organisations should share the economic value created when news content is displayed or made discoverable online.
For Google, the outcome could have implications for its relationships with publishers in Poland. If UOKiK eventually concludes that Google breached competition rules, the regulator could impose remedies or financial penalties. The final outcome will depend on the evidence collected during the investigation and Google's response to the regulator's concerns.
For now, the allegations remain subject to investigation. There has been no final finding that Google abused its dominant position in the publisher payment negotiations.
The case demonstrates the growing importance of copyright, competition and digital platform regulation as news organisations increasingly rely on technology companies to reach audiences.
As the investigation progresses, Google’s response, the evidence examined by UOKiK and any subsequent regulatory decision will determine whether the concerns raised by the Polish authority result in formal enforcement action.
Overall, Poland’s latest investigation puts the relationship between Google and news publishers under renewed scrutiny. The regulator is examining whether the lack of information available to publishers during payment negotiations created an unfair negotiating environment. The investigation could become an important development in the wider European debate over how large technology platforms should compensate publishers for the use and display of news content.
