Google to Hear French Anti-Trust Decision On Its Talks with Publishers Within Days – Report

In January, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google reached a copyright agreement with a group of French news publishers over the use of their content in search results. Google agreed to pay $76 million to 121 publications under a three-year deal, according to a Reuters report.

However, French regulators have accused Google of failing to comply with orders on how to conduct copyright negotiations with publishers, according to the report. France’s antitrust watchdog plans to make its decision in the coming days.

Some French publishes have complained that Google didn’t hold the copyright talks in “good faith”. They say the company failed to share traffic data to help determine payment for online news content. Google disputes this claim. (See Alphabet stock charts on TipRanks).

Although there is a copyright agreement in place, French publishers haven’t signed it yet, pending the antitrust watchdog’s decision, Reuters reported citing sources.

In June, Argus analyst Joseph Bonner reaffirmed a Buy rating on Alphabet stock with a price target of $2,800. The analyst’s price target suggests 11.96% upside potential.

Bonner acknowledges that Alphabet has come under intense antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe, but he believes the antitrust cases will take years. Moreover, the analyst thinks achieving new antitrust legislation in the U.S. may be difficult in a divided Congress.

Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 26 Buys and 2 Holds. The average Alphabet price target of $2,809 implies 12.32% upside potential to current levels.

GOOGL scores an 8 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.

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