Google France had said earlier that the plan "would be harmful to the internet, internet users and news websites that benefit from substantial traffic" that comes via Google's search engine.
In a ruling Tuesday, the Paris court upheld an unfair competition complaint lodged by Bottin Cartographes against Google France and its parent company Google Inc. for providing free web mapping services to some businesses.
There are actually two things going on here with respect to tax, Google and France.
FORBES: Apparently France Will Tax Google ��1 Billion: Not A Chance M. Hollande
Max Mosley is suing Google in France and Germany in an attempt to force the internet company to monitor and censor search results about his alleged sado-masochistic orgy.
Google selling ads into France from its Irish office (which is what it does) is not some perversion of the tax system.
FORBES: Apparently France Will Tax Google ��1 Billion: Not A Chance M. Hollande
In March, Google was hit by a fine from France's privacy watchdog, CNIL, over data obtained mistakenly through the company's Street View service.
CNN: EU watchdogs need 'teeth' to clamp down on privacy breaches
He may have been scared of getting hit with charges of spying on people around the world (Canada, the Netherlands, and France have all found that Google violated data protection laws with Wi-Spy).
The countries looking at taking action against Google include the big ones: Germany, France and the UK, which makes this a serious issue.
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Google does sell advertising services to companies in France.
FORBES: Apparently France Will Tax Google ��1 Billion: Not A Chance M. Hollande
Last year, France became embroiled in a row with Google over government plans to tax the company's revenue made from posting ads alongside online search results.
BBC: French MPs use tablets in parliament (19 February 2013)
"France is proud to have reached this agreement with Google, the first of its kind in the world, " the French president's office said on Twitter.
Google has threatened to exclude French media sites from search results if France goes ahead with plans to make search engines pay for content.
Countries including Spain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic have all launched probes and issued several fines against Google for its Street View service in the past year.
Google has had its battles with the EU over the past decade, not least when Germany and France wanted to create their own competitor search engine in the mid-2000s.
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But getting Google and other U.S. technology companies to pay more corporate taxes on their profits in France could take a long time, the report acknowledges, because this will require international cooperation.
FORBES: France, Google And The Internet Tax: It's Just Not Going To Fly
Outside the US, Google remained dominant, with an unchanged 91% share of spend in the UK, and even higher in France, Germany, and Australia.
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