Russian court fines Google $20 decillion — more than world’s GDP

$20,000,000,000,000 (deep breath) 000,000,000,000,000,000,000

A Russian court has fined Google $20 decillion, a sum significantly larger than the entire global GDP, and containing a whopping 34 zeros.

The penalty comes after a four-year court battle which started with Google banning a Russian Youtube channel, Tsargrad, following sanctions imposed by the US in 2020.

This has been compounded by the banning of further channels and broadcasters allegedly associated with the Russian state, a number of which are also suing Google.

The court initially imposed a fine of 100,000 roubles ($1,025) per day. This was set to double every week, reaching the ridiculous amount of two undecillion roubles, or $20 decillion.

For reference, the World Bank Group estimates the total global GDP to be $100 trillion, a number with a measly 14 zeros, less than half that of $20 decillion.

The figure is also more than the estimated number of grains of sand on the planet, speculated to be a mere 7.5 sextillion (20 zeros).

With Google’s latest quarterly earnings this week coming in at $88.3 billion, it could take as much as 56.65 septillion years to repay the fine, The Times (£) reports, a number which is more than 4 trillion times the age of the universe.