French Courts Order Google Maps To Pay €500,000 For Unfair Competition

Google have been ordered by a French commercial court to pay €500,000 to a French mapping company after it was found guilty of abusing the dominant position of its Google Maps application.

The Paris court upheld an unfair competition complaint lodged by Bottin Cartographics against Google France and its parent company Google Inc. for providing free mapping services to some businesses. Bottin Cartographics provides the same services for a fee and claimed that Google’s strategy was to undercut competitors by temporarily swallowing the full cost until it gained control of the market.

The court ordered Google to pay €500,000 in damages and interest to the plaintiff as well as a €15,000 fine. A spokesperson for Google France said that the company would appeal the decision saying that the service is both beneficial for both internet users and websites.

While this is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application, the company has gotten into trouble before in France. During March 2011, the country’s data privacy regulator imposed a fine of €100,000 on the company for collecting private information while compiling its Street View service.