“We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation,” Google said in a statement provided to Ars. “The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies. We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action.”

Between October 15, 2025, and December 4, 2025, “Spagnuolo’s AlphaRaccoon account risked approximately $2,754,092 on approximately 25 Google Year in Search 2025 outcomes that the market treated as unlikely,” the US complaint said.

Spagnuolo’s bets included $937,688 on the “No” side of “Will Bianca Censori be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; $613,587 on the “No” side of “Will Pope Leo XIV be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; $509,149 on the “No” side of “Will Donald Trump be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; and $171,612 on the “No” side of “Will Donald Trump rank in Google’s Top 5 Most Searched People of 2025?”

The…