The President of the Polish competition authority, Tomasz Chróstny, has accused Google of potentially abusing its dominant market position in its dealings with Polish media publishers. The authority's concerns center around Google's negotiation practices regarding compensation for the use of press articles.

Chróstny highlighted that internet search engines have transformed how information is accessed, often leading users to snippets of news rather than full articles. This shift has resulted in publishers losing traffic and revenue, which are crucial for their operations. A new copyright law set to take effect in 2024 aims to address these issues by ensuring that publishers are compensated for their work.

Despite the new regulations, Google has reportedly failed to sign agreements with most Polish publishers to define the terms of using their content and the corresponding compensation. The authority's investigation revealed that Google did not provide the necessary data to publishers to assess the offered compensation rates, leading to an imbalance of information in negotiations.

Chróstny emphasized that big tech companies must comply with the law and provide publishers with the required information to ensure fair compensation. The ongoing investigation into Google could result in fines of up to 10% of the company's revenue for abusing its dominant position.

The accusations involve four companies within the Google group: Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited, and Google Poland. The President of the competition authority clarified that he is not a party to the negotiations between Google and the publishers and does not assess the appropriateness of the proposed compensation rates.

Additionally, the European Commission is conducting a separate investigation into Google to determine if it is using publishers' content in AI-based services without proper compensation. This investigation is distinct from the one initiated by the Polish authority, focusing on different aspects of Google's operations.