Russian court imposes a record fine on Google that equals more money than there is on earth

Google has been fined a record $2.5 decillion by a Russian court. This works out to $2.5 trillion trillion trillion which equals 23,809,523 times all of the money on Earth. The court had hit the Search giant with a 100,000 ruble ($1,032.20) fine back in 2020 after a pair of Russian media outlets with links to the Kremlin, Tsargrad, and RIA FAN, were the recipient of restrictions placed on them by YouTube. Google called out the media outlets for trying to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda.

The court tacked on additional fines after Google also banned on YouTube other Russian outlets (Channel One, Moscow Media, and Public Television of Russia) that supported the country’s actions during the war in Ukraine. But what really pumped up the fine was Google’s refusal to pay it. This led the court to double the fine each week which has been the case for the last four years. Last month, Google restricted the creation of new accounts for Russian users and in August it deactivated AdSense accounts in the country. This prevents Russian website publishers from generating revenue from ads supplied by Google.

Google has commented on the fine saying, “We have ongoing legal matters relating to Russia. For example, civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties. We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect.” In other words, Google is taking the fine as seriously as it would if it had been fined in Monopoly dollars.

Google and Russia have had some other legal battles. Back in 2022, Google’s Russian subsidiary was forced to file for bankruptcy after the firm’s bank account was seized by Russia. At the time, a Google spokesperson said, “The Russian authorities’ seizure of Google Russia’s bank account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations.”

As part of other sanctions placed against Russia, online ads have not been served to Russian Google users since 2022. Yes, some of you might be wondering why Russians get to miss out on seeing ads on Google sites if they’re the country being sanctioned.