The firm ignored a 2020 decision to negotiate in good faith over the display of snippets of articles on Google News, according to the Autorité de la concurrence.

The fine is the second largest antitrust penalty in France for a single firm.

“The sanction of 500 million euros takes into account the exceptional seriousness of the breaches observed,” said Isabelle de Silva, president of the French agency.

The search giant is “very disappointed” with the decision and claims it “acted in good faith throughout the entire process,” a spokesperson said. Google has the right to appeal.

As part of the decision, Google was told to enter negotiations within two months of new requests from the plaintiff press publishers or it would be handed daily fines of up to €900,000 per day.