Google fined $2.5 decillion for not unblocking pro-Russia YouTube channels. 1 decillion has 36 zeros

Google began to accumulate daily penalties of 100,000 rubles (about $1,000) in 2020. The fines have doubled each week. (File photo)

Google has racked up about $2.5 decillion in fines in Russia after years of refusing to restore the YouTube channels of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets, Russian media reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with court rulings against the tech giant.

YouTube, owned by Google, had blocked several Russian state-run media outlets over their support of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Authorities in Moscow retaliated with fines but stopped short of blocking the website, The Moscow Times reported.

According to Russian media house RBC, after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels, Google began to accumulate daily penalties of 100,000 rubles (about $1,000) in 2020. The fines have doubled each week amounting to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion rubles.

"Undecillion is a number equal to 1 followed by 36 zeros. Google, whose parent company Alphabet reported a revenue of more than $307 billion in 2023, is unlikely to ever pay the incredibly high fine," The Moscow Times reported.

Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and was officially declared bankrupt last year. The tech giant had earlier stopped advertising in Russia to comply with Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Google fined Rs 26,172 crore after losing 15-year legal battle against UK couple

Recently in a related incident, the tech giant lost a 15-year legal battle against a couple in the UK and has been ordered to pay 2.4 billion pounds (about Rs 26,172 crore) in fines for abusing the market dominance of its shopping comparison service. Google had appealed against the fine originally levied by the European Commission in 2017 at Europe’s top court–the European Court of Justice–but it rejected its appeal in September, BBC reported.

Google said it was "disappointed" with the ruling.