Since its own IPO way back in 2004, Google has employed the informal motto, “Don’t Be Evil,” as the basis for much of its decision making. The company’s underlying philosophy has been that you don’t need to exploit users for profits and that its better to invest in improving the world over the long term even if it means sometimes forfeiting short term gains.
By creating a Don’t Be Evil culture, the search engine giant established a baseline for honesty and integrity in its decision-making meant to dissociate itself from any form of cheating or exploitation. The philosophy is said to imbue everything from Google’s search engine algorithms to the company’s privacy settings on it Google+ social network and one embodied by the company through offering many of its unique services (Google Earth, Maps, and Street View for instance) at no cost to users.
But with a recent decision in a lawsuit in France it looks like its becoming more difficult to be not evil, as Google was found guilty of anti-competitive practices for offering its Google Maps platform for free.
Earlier this week in a Paris court Google France and its parent company Google were found guilty of anti-competitive practices for offering its mapping service for free to businesses across the country and were ordered to pay the plaintiff, Bottin Cartographes, 500,000 Euros (about $660,000). In addition, the court also required Google to pay a fine of 15,000 Euros for this practice.
It’s a huge victory for Bottin Cartographes, a mapping company that has seen its profits dwindle over the years as it’s struggled to compete with the search engine giant who offers the same services absolutely free.
“We proved the illegality of (Google’s) strategy to remove its competitors,” Jean-David Scemmama, attorney for Bottin Cartographes, said in a statement. “The court recognized the unfair and abusive character of the methods used, and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application.”
This decision comes after years of Bottin Cartographes arguing that by offering its mapping services for free the search engine giant was taking control of the mapping industry and stifling competition, as companies like Bottin Cartographes simply can’t afford to offer their services at no cost.
That being said, despite the fact that Google can find 500,000 Euros in the couch in the employee break room, the search engine giant isn’t about to accept this decision and word is an appeal is already in the works.
For me this entire situation raises the interesting question of the legality of ‘free’ in a capitalist society. Truthfully, in a society founded on profits and competition on the face of it there seems nothing more contradictory than offering something that has no direct profit stream connected to it (because you better believe Google makes money of its Maps program, just not from users). Of course for all those of us who exist as the rank-and-file of capitalism, a little more ‘free’ is always welcome.
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Written by: Matt Klassen. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The FREE internet model has changed the face of business across many sectors, Google Maps being one. Sites like The Huffington Post, which is an excellent news site, certainly hurt the newspaper industry. Sites like GMAIL directly dig into the pockets of paid mail services like Outlook for example. The list is endless, but this isn’t new to the mapping industry. Revolutionary technologies and advancements in science have changed and will continue to change the face of business. Google makes a profit off their mapping software, it’s just not the same way Bottin makes theirs.
Google should fight this case, it’s precedent setting.