The Paris Commercial Court ordered Google to pay a fine of 500,000 euros for providing the opportunity to use Google Maps for free. The company Bottin Cartographes sued Google for the fact that they undermine competition in the market and want to monopolize it.
“First of all, we ask for a clear and transparent business model and better compliance with competition rules,” said Dorothy Mani, deputy general director of Bottin Cartographes, “There are two main financing models: advertising displayed on free services and provision of paid services” (
which is what Bottin Cartographes does ). The deputy director stressed that the Google Maps service is not just a website, but program interfaces that allow companies to integrate google maps into their applications. And some of these APIs are provided completely free, without advertising, even if they are associated with costs for the search giant.
The court sided with Bottin Cartographes and, in addition to a fine of 500 thousand euros, ordered Google to pay the company compensation of 15 thousand euros.
Google representatives have already said that the company will appeal the decision of the court. “We believe that free, fast and high-quality display of maps carries only positive moments for websites and their users. And we will continue to face strong competition in this area, ”the spokesman for the American group explained the company's point of view.
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