Google is among numerous western companies that left the Russian market following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but that was not the start of Google’s Muscovite problems. A lawsuit brought by Russian media outlets in 2020 has reached its conclusion, and the fine is astronomical. Russian courts have ordered Google to pay more money than exists in the world, but with Google now ignoring Russia, it’s unlikely Putin’s government will collect a single Ruble.
The case traces to a suit filed by Russia’s Tsargrad and RIA FAN news outlets, which used to have popular YouTube channels. Google banned the channels on YouTube in 2020 due to their publishing of misinformation and Russian propaganda. The suit was eventually joined by 17 Russian TV channels, and shocker, Google has been found liable under Russian law.
Google was previously ordered to reinstate the accounts on YouTube and issued a fine of 100 thousand rubles each day it does not comply. In the October 28 hearing, the judge confirmed Google was being fined the daily amount plus a doubling of the fine every week as allowed under Russian law. That works out to $2.5 decillion—one decillion is a one followed by 33 zeros. There is no company in the world with that much revenue, and even if every company, individual, and government in the world pooled their cash, it wouldn’t be enough to pay Google’s Russian fines.
Google no longer operates in Russia, which is probably why the courts have escalated attacks on the company. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Google canceled AdSense accounts in the country, and Google’s Russian subsidiary (Google LLC) filed for bankruptcy in June 2022. In late 2023, Russian authorities seized what little remained in Google LLC’s accounts, and that’s probably the last Google money Russia will see.
Several of the allegedly aggrieved broadcasters have attempted to sue Google in other venues (like Ireland) to loop in functional parts of the company, but those efforts have faced stiff headwinds from Google’s lawyers. The company mentioned its Russia issues in the most recent earnings call, noting there are “ongoing legal matters relating to Russia.” However, Google does not expect the case to have any impact on its bottom line. Google has reported an impressive 15% year-over-year revenue growth for the second quarter of 2024, with net income of $26.3 billion.