Recently France fined Google. Google intends to comply. Why? How a country can fine an Internet company from another country? I understand that Google's business is mostly ads. As long as France is not blocking Internet traffic, can't Google just ignore them and continue doing their business as usual?
asked Jul 14, 2021 at 12:45
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1 Answer
Google is an international company. It has employees in France. It has offices in France. It has costs and revenue in France. It has French subsidiaries, with French bank accounts.
Google could absolutely try to ignore a French judgment against it, but the government could seize assets from their French bank accounts, and/or real property they have in the country. The French government could petition other countries in which Google has assets to enforce the judgment, and at least in other EU countries it would likely be successful.
Ultimately, though, there'd be no need for such extreme measures. Google's business in France is selling ad space to French businesses. If they didn't have that available as a revenue stream, they might well cut off service to the country themselves.
