Google parent company Alphabet will invest at least 500 million US dollars in rebuilding its global compliance structure over the next ten years.

A central component of the proposed settlement is the establishment of an independent compliance committee at the Board of Directors level. In parallel, a new executive body is to be created under the direct supervision of CEO Sundar Pichai, flanked by internal product experts and compliance specialists. According to the agreement, this structure must remain in place for at least four years.

The procedure was initiated in 2021 by a pension fund from Michigan. The plaintiffs accuse Alphabet of causing billions in regulatory damages through neglected supervision – including reputational damage and costs from investigations. Alphabet denies any wrongdoing but wants to avoid protracted litigation with the settlement.

The pressure for reform does not come out of nowhere. In several US cases, Google was recently legally convicted of monopolization—in the search business, app store segment, and digital advertising. In December 2023, a California judge even accused the company of systematically destroying evidence. The US Department of Justice had also targeted Alphabet for allegedly manipulative communication practices.

In the Epic Games case, a jury ruled that Google abused its market power to achieve excessive profits from the Play Store. The judges also accused the company of deliberately avoiding documentation to evade investigations.

The ongoing proceedings could ultimately result in the breakup of the conglomerate, even though appeals could delay legal clarity for years. Alphabet is now signaling a willingness to cooperate with the settlement: "We have already invested significant resources in our compliance structures and look forward to deepening our commitments in the interest of good corporate governance," said a company spokesperson.