Blow for Google as Belgian SME gets its accounts frozen

Belgian courts imposed a fine of €76 million on Google due to an access block against a Belgian online advertising SME. The seizure was accepted in Ireland and by Citibank. The bank intervened on the account.

Google saw its Irish accounts frozen for a few hours by Citibank, allowing time to reserve a balance of €76 million owed to a Belgian SME following a court decision. Proxistore was unable to run online advertisements for its clients due to an access block unilaterally imposed by Google. The Nivelles Business Court, approached by the SME, ordered Google to pay a penalty of €1 million per hour of blockage, amounting to €76 million in total. The multinational having a branch in Ireland meant the funds needed to be collected there.

International cooperation

Thanks to a legal tool within the EU, Belgian justice contacted its Irish counterpart to execute the seizure on Google's Irish accounts at Citibank. Initially, the request didn't receive a favourable response in Dublin, until Proxistore found out through Citibank that the precautionary seizure had been carried out on 3rd April 2025. The bank initially froze the account to perform the necessary operations to limit the block to the penalty amount.

Possible appeal

Google can, of course, still defend itself with an appeal within 14 days. In the meantime, the American company cannot access the €76 million for now. If there's no appeal or an invalid appeal, the money will be directly transferred to the Belgian SME by Citibank. Otherwise, if Google endeavours to contest the situation according to legal norms, further judicial decisions will be needed before resolving the dispute.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Source: Le Soir – Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jakub Porzycki)