Google now owes Russia more money in fines than the GDP of the world

Paying fines is no fun, and people have tried all manner of excuses to get out of it, such as saying the fines are unfair or that they may not have enough money.

And while the words "Google" and "not enough money" are not words you usually put together, it appears that Russia is doing its best by fining the company 2 undecillion roubles.

2 undecillion, not great, not terrible

On Oct. 29, The Moscow Times reported that Google had reportedly been hit by several fines after its subsidiary YouTube blocked several Russian government channels, as well as the channels of pro-government outlets and individuals.

This includes state-run channels such as Channel One, and that of a company related to Russia Today's editor-in-chief.

Some of the fines were initially issued in 2020, but new fines have been added since then, with The Verge reporting in 2023 that some fines were related to Google's failure to remove certain content about the Ukraine War which the Russian government had prohibited for apparently “promoting extremism and terrorism” and supposedly false information.

The fines were not exactly small, The Verge's article from the time indicate fines ranging into the hundreds of millions of dollars, but Google has apparently decided that it would not pay the fines.

Russia then imposed a 100,000 rouble fine for late payment, which doubled every week that Google did not pay, leading to a total bill that is reported as 2 undecillion roubles.

Roubles doubling every week

Tom's Hardware helpfully spells out what 2 undecillion looks like. That's a number that has 36 zeros after it, 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 roubles.

In US dollars, that's US$2.5 decillion, or US$20,541,679,800,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

In Singapore dollars, the amount is roughly S$27,150,166,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

And if you think that number is impressive, Tom's Hardware reports that the fines have no upper limit and could theoretically go on forever.

Gizmodo estimates that within 219 weeks, which could be in the next few months, Google will owe a googol roubles. A googol is a number with 100 zeros, or: 10,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000.

Business Insider has calculated that the Gross Domestic Product of the world is about US$105 trillion, or US$105,000,000,000,000 (S$139,000,000,000,000).

Sky News valued Google at US$ 2.1 trillion, US$2,100,000,000,000, (S$2,870,000,000,000), meaning that Google will have some trouble paying the fine, and will likely continue to stay out of Russia.

The company's Russian legal arm filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and its assets were seized by Russian authorities, although free services continue to be available.

Google acknowledged its "legal troubles" in Russia, and said that "Russian legal issues will have material impact on its business".

Top image via Google & Pawel Czerwinski/Unsplash