French court fines Google maps for unfair trading

A French court has found Google guilty of abusing its monopoly position by offering Google Maps free of charge.

The court ordered the US-based company and its French subsidiary to pay a fine of 15,000 euros and 500,000 euros in compensation to Bottin Cartographiques, the French company that brought the case.

Bottin Cartographiques argued that Google Maps was guilty of unfair competition by offering their service free, while its competitors had to invest to develop their product - maps and itineraries on sale to companies.

Google says it will appeal, arguing that its free map services is of value to web surfers and site owners and that it does face competition in France and the rest of the world.