Google hit with $2.5 decillion fine by Russia court, amount exceeds global GDP

A Russian court has slapped Google with an unprecedented fine of $2.5 decillion (or $2.5 trillion trillion), equivalent to 23.8 million times the global money supply.

According to a report from the Russian state media outlet RBC, Google’s unpaid fines in the country have now reached 2 undecillion rubles (or $2.5 decillion) — that is, $2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 typed out in full.

This fine stems from the tech giant’s refusal to unblock YouTube accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN, reported RBC news.

To put the staggering figure into perspective, one decillion has 33 zeros, while an undecillion has 36 zeros — numbers that make Google's estimated decade-long global fine of $14 billion look like child’s play.

The figure also vastly overshadows the global GDP of approximately $100 trillion.

Why did Russia fine Google $2.5 decillion?

The saga can be traced back to 2020 when Google-owned YouTube banned the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN for violating sanctions and breaching trade rules.

In response, a Russian court instructed the tech giant to restore access to the accounts and imposed a fine of 100,000 rubles that would increase daily if the company failed to comply with its orders. Google was expected to pay the fine within nine months. If unsettled, the fine would continue to accumulate. In September, the total fine had accrued to almost 13 decillion.

In 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine war began, YouTube banned more Russian state media channels including NTV, Russia 24, RT, etc. This led to fresh lawsuits from 17 Russian news channels against Google.

As per RBC news, in the latest hearing on Monday, October 28, the judge reportedly said that he was considering “a case in which there are many, many zeros.”

Google’s response

Whether Google settles a fine worth more than the global GDP remains to be seen but it has yet to publicly respond to the legal battle.

However, in its quarter three result call, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, said the ongoing battle in Russia is unlikely to affect the company’s overall business.

In 2022, Google’s Russian subsidiary, Google LLC, filed for bankruptcy. The company faced outstanding debt of 19 billion rubles while its assets in Russia amounted to 3.5 billion rubles. Subsequently, the tech giant blocked the registration of new Russian accounts and further suspended AdSense.