Technology / Software
French Company to File Anticompetitive Suit Against Google, Seeking Damages
28 Jun 2011 at 09:29hrs | Views
BRUSSELS - An Internet company in France says it will seek heavy damages from Google in what it says is the largest claim of its kind in Europe against the American giant, New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The action, which the company, 1plusV, says it will bring on Tuesday at the Commercial Court of Paris, will raise issues about whether Google has unfairly shut out competitors. 1plusV says it will claim 295 million euros, or $421 million, in damages, based on income it believes it lost because of Google's actions.
Google is facing similar questions in a formal investigation by the European Commission that began last year and in another investigation confirmed last week by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington.
1plusV operates a family of search engines aimed at offering mainly French-speaking Web users targeted results in areas like law and music.
Bruno Guillard, the founder of 1plusV, said Google made some of his sites impossible to find through its search engine, thus taking away the ability of those sites to generate advertising revenue.
1plusV, along with other companies, already has complained to the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, about similar issues. But the resolution of that case could take several years, and 1plusV would not be entitled to damages as a direct result of any finding, or fine, against Google.
Mr. Guillard said that the filing in Paris "reinforces and completes" its previous complaints to the commission.
1plusV said it believed the claim to be both the largest ever filed against Google in a European jurisdiction and the largest ever worldwide against Google for antitrust infringements.
It said it expected a final judgment within two years.
Google's share of the search market in parts of Europe is as much as 90 percent. Google has said that its products allow Internet users to find the information they are seeking as quickly as possible, and that it is working closely with the European Commission to explain its business.
Google has declined to comment on the specific allegations made by 1plusV in the past, but in legal documents submitted last year in the case brought by the European Commission, the company said that one of the sites operated by 1plusV was little more than a collection of links to other sites of little use to Web users.
Mr. Guillard said that in some cases Google "blacklisted" his sites over a period of four years, making them impossible to find on Google's Web search engine. Since then, he said, many of the sites had been restored and could be found, "but irreparable damage has been done."
Mr. Guillard also said that his company had developed a hybrid search technology called VSearch, but that Google required him to use its technology to benefit from Google's advertising services.
That requirement "strongly hinders the capacity of sites using this technology to get listed on Google Web, thereby hindering these sites' ability to draw traffic and by the same token revenues," the company said in a statement.
The action, which the company, 1plusV, says it will bring on Tuesday at the Commercial Court of Paris, will raise issues about whether Google has unfairly shut out competitors. 1plusV says it will claim 295 million euros, or $421 million, in damages, based on income it believes it lost because of Google's actions.
Google is facing similar questions in a formal investigation by the European Commission that began last year and in another investigation confirmed last week by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington.
1plusV operates a family of search engines aimed at offering mainly French-speaking Web users targeted results in areas like law and music.
Bruno Guillard, the founder of 1plusV, said Google made some of his sites impossible to find through its search engine, thus taking away the ability of those sites to generate advertising revenue.
1plusV, along with other companies, already has complained to the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, about similar issues. But the resolution of that case could take several years, and 1plusV would not be entitled to damages as a direct result of any finding, or fine, against Google.
Mr. Guillard said that the filing in Paris "reinforces and completes" its previous complaints to the commission.
It said it expected a final judgment within two years.
Google's share of the search market in parts of Europe is as much as 90 percent. Google has said that its products allow Internet users to find the information they are seeking as quickly as possible, and that it is working closely with the European Commission to explain its business.
Google has declined to comment on the specific allegations made by 1plusV in the past, but in legal documents submitted last year in the case brought by the European Commission, the company said that one of the sites operated by 1plusV was little more than a collection of links to other sites of little use to Web users.
Mr. Guillard said that in some cases Google "blacklisted" his sites over a period of four years, making them impossible to find on Google's Web search engine. Since then, he said, many of the sites had been restored and could be found, "but irreparable damage has been done."
Mr. Guillard also said that his company had developed a hybrid search technology called VSearch, but that Google required him to use its technology to benefit from Google's advertising services.
That requirement "strongly hinders the capacity of sites using this technology to get listed on Google Web, thereby hindering these sites' ability to draw traffic and by the same token revenues," the company said in a statement.
Source - NY Times
