This is where the confusion lies:

> Saying Google paid a fine is a fact

My point has been that Google believing they have consent for tracking usage of Bard is “valid”. Pointing to the fact that Google paid a fine to a particular legal authority as a reason for understanding that this consent is “not valid” is the appeal to authority.

(Please also consider that you have “shifted the goalposts”.)

Edit: I should apologize for the above parenthetical about shifting the goalposts. In retrospect this appears more as a regular misunderstanding. I should have tried to clarify earlier. It’s not an excuse but an explanation: I believe I was simply frustrated by the misunderstanding. I am sorry for that accusation.