Google who has a slew of different products and services, was ordered by a french court to pay $660,000 in damages to a French mapping company that claimed they were stifling competition by offering Google Maps for free.

The company has been under fire lately due to changes to their privacy policy that basically consolidates all 60+ privacy policies across all their products and services, into one. This is not to mention the fact that the FTC is looking into claims of anti-trust practices and even added Google+ to the probe after the social network was implemented into search results.

Via PCMag:

“Bottin Cartographes, which offers map services to businesses for a cost, filed an unfair competition complaint against Google France and its parent company Google, arguing the Web giant was engaging in anticompetitive practices by providing free mapping services. The Paris court on Tuesday upheld the compliant, ordering Google to pay 500,000 Euros ($660,000) in damages and interest to Bottin Cartographes along with a 15,000 ($20,000) Euro fine, according to an AFP report.”

The french mapping company claimed that what was being done was an illegal strategy to remove competitors from the market and it seems the courts agreed that that was the case.

“However, a Google France spokesman told the AFP that the company is planning to fight the ruling. ”We will appeal this decision,” the spokesman said. “We remain convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites. There remains competition in this sector for us, both in France and internationally.”

Do you think the ruling against Google was fair?

Google Fined $660,000 For Offering Free Maps In France is a post from: The Inquisitr

There’s always a few bad apples out of a bunch of good ones. According to OpenStreetMap, an open source mapping project that is a direct competitor with Google Maps, user accounts that were attached to Google Internet addresses in India, were tampering with data.

Google was quick to address their claims and after a further investigation, found that it was two contractors who were “acting on behalf of themselves” and since then, “are no longer working on Google projects”. This definitely isn’t something the tech giant wants to happen, nor do they want the situation on their hands.

Via Wired:

“The accusation from OpenStreet Map follows a widely reported incident in which users behind a Google IP address in India were caught scraping data from a Kenyan online business directory called Mocality. Last week, Google apologized for the incident. Then, on Monday evening, Mikel Maron, an OpenStreetMap (OSM) board member, told Wired that users had been vandalizing OpenStreetMap from the same IP address range in India.”

Google apologized and rectified the situation which really got their attention when project founder Steve Coast and System Admin Grant Slater, published a blog post about the accusation.

“Maron told Wired that the OSM braintrust noticed the vandalism last Thursday. In a standard procedure used when malicious alterations are suspected, OSM placed a stop on the account the next day, attempting to verify that the user is a real person and that he or she understands the open-source nature of OSM. Maron said that the stop was acknowledged early Monday — and that the user then continued to vandalize mapping data. Maron said that this was caught within a few hours, and that the system administrator then noticed that the user’s IP address was in the same range as the address Mocality had identified.”

Do you think the contractors were put up to it by Google or were they just some bad apples?

Google Contractors Maliciously Tamper Competitor’s Data, Fired Immediately is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google loves putting little hidden gems into its products. Earlier this week it was revealed that typing in “Let it snow” into Google search  created a blizzard on your computer screen.  Google can also provide you with directions from the Shire to Mordor.

Well, Google doesn’t actually provide directions. Instead, it provides a very important warning. When using Google Maps to find walking directions, if you type “The Shire” into “your location” and “Mordor” into “your destination” Google will provide you with some very important, and geeky, words of wisdom.

Google writes: Caution – One does not simply walk into Mordor.

The line comes from the often quoted, and often spoofed, scene from “The Lord of the Rings.”

Do you have a favorite Google Easter Egg?

If you feel like wasting some time on the internet today try typing in “Do a Barrel Roll” into Google,” or “Askew,” or ask Google for directions from Japan to China and check the 42nd instruction.

‘One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor,’ Warns Google Maps is a post from: The Inquisitr

In the intervening year since the last appearance of McDonald’s McRib sandwich, I will cop to having succumbed to trying a late night McRib after decades of wondering what they were all about.

It was glorious! Rapturous! A rib-flavored delight coated in high fructose corn… I’m sorry. I can’t do this. It was one of the most awful things I’ve put in my mouth, and I’ve eaten at Olive Garden, so that’s saying something. I have no idea what kind of marijuana you McRib fans are smoking, but I bet it’s the kind from California that makes your whole second floor smell like Otto’s jacket, and I am jealous.

Yet every year, fans make a bit of noise when the McRib hits McDonald’s shelves and every year the press fawns over the sandwich’s reappearance as if it’s been gone for decades, not a few McRibless months. The elusive McRib, as you probably (hopefully) know if you’ve ever eaten one, isn’t even a Rib- which makes sense because people would totally be biting into it and breaking teeth or choking and stuff if it was. What it is is a ground pork patty, shaped to give off the illusion of ribs, drowned in gluey-sugar barbecue sauce, dressed with onions and served on a soft roll that may well be the McRib’s most redeeming feature.

Depending on the jurisdiction of your McDonald’s, the McRib became available on October 24th or even earlier. And if you are in such a McRib related frenzy you can’t cope with circling the local McDonaldses to find the McRib nearest you, you might want to check out the McRib locator to minimize the time and space between your mouth and ribby goodness.

Are you a McRib fan? Have you gotten your first McRib of the season yet?

McRib Makes Another Limited Time Appearance, Time For Fans to Get Your Pork On is a post from: The Inquisitr

Osama bin Laden’s hideout has already been tagged on Google Maps, making it a whole lot easier to find for anyone looking.

Too bad the U.S. Special Forces team couldn’t just type in “Osama bin Laden’s Compound” when they first started searching for him.

What’s most amazing however is how close to other homes, military bases and major roads Osama lived for years, his “compound” or “hideout” or whatever you want to call it definitely wasn’t a cave located in the side of some remote mountain.

Osama bin Laden’s Hideout On Google Maps [Pic] is a post from: The Inquisitr

My favorite game to watch in 2010 was the one in which Google drove down the stock of GPS manufacturers such as Garmin and TomTom. Google managed that rather easy goal by first giving away Google Maps for mobile devices for free, then by adding cool functionality such as voice guided directions and the ability to switch into street view while walking around various cities. Now here we sit in 2011 and Google is up to their same old tricks, this time announcing Real-Time traffic rerouting for mobile devices.

The new feature, specifically giving to Android devices (still in beta and unavailable for iPhone users at this time) can be used in both North America and Europe.

While Google Maps has offered traffic information for quite a while now, it’s the first time that the program has been made available with real-time traffic updates for mobile users. The program uses smart schemes which uses both current and historical information to find the best route for a user to take at any given time of the day or night.

The screenshot above shows how the program works and should be pretty self explanatory, just make sure you upgrade to the newest Google Maps version through the Android Market.

Wow look at that, even as I finished this post I realize I had forgotten about Garmin and TomTom. Sure does seem like Google is up to their same old tricks and we’re all benefiting from them one Google update at a time.

Google Maps For Android: Real-Time Traffic Rerouting Now Available is a post from: The Inquisitr

Far less likely to get you lost than most directions that come from Google Maps.

[Team Sandwich]

Google Maps Bel-Airing only works once… is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google Maps can come in handy if you need relatively precise directions or information on a business.

But as the service improves with expanded details on businesses globally, a British Member of Parliament raises an interesting point about when information needs to be concealed for possible overriding reasons of privacy or safety. Shelters for abused women traditionally operate in secret, to protect residents from abusers who have been known to stalk or harass them. The security of one such shelter was compromised when the location’s information, including a picture, was posted on Google:

“Only once women have called the emergency number and a pickup point has been agreed do they find out where the hostel is.

“Imagine their great concern when, on entering the name of the organisation on Google, a picture of the building the refugees use and also their address appear on the search engine,’ (MP Mark Lancaster) said.

“I find it staggering that such an invasion of privacy on an organisation whose purpose is to protect others is allowed to occur.”

Google has commented on the concerns raised by Lancaster, saying:

“The company has contacted Mr Lancaster this morning to urgently try to find out the details of the case he raised.

“Anyone can request an image for removal from Street View using our simple ‘report a problem’. When they do we remove the image quickly. We have removed sensitive locations in the past and are happy to do so.”

What do you think? Should the service be “opt in” rather than “opt out?”

MP says Google Maps reveals location of secret UK domestic violence shelter is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s like the second coming of Christ- scantly meaty, mass-produced and available for a limited time Christ.

To be honest, I have never consumed one of the famed McRib sandwiches available at McDonald’s just infrequently enough that people go apeshit when they reappear. This is no food snobbery on my part, I just tend to scarf those mechanically separated chicken rhombuses hosed down in Mac Sauce on each visit and can’t recall the last time a McRib graced the menu. However, my Facebook feed has been littered with shout-outs to the McRib, and references to the sandwich online have been increasing to a barbeque-y crescendo.

Perhaps you are one of the McRib adherents desperately seeking a McRib in your hood. And if you’ve ever hunted down a foodstuff with limited availability as it slowly disappeared from stores (Burger King and their super amazing chocolate cherry flavored Love Shake spring to mind) you’ll appreciate the McRib Locator. As a matter of fact. the McRib Locator is so appreciated it is going up and down as scads of McRib craving internetters desperately try to track down the sandwich using the Google maps mashup.

Have you gotten a McRib yet this season? Was it everything you remembered and more?

Have you spotted the elusive McRib in the wild? The McRib Locator can help you is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although Google Maps is pretty much the universal “ghetto GPS,” frequent users know that the directions given are not always the most reliable.

While they will usually get you where you’re going in the end, sometimes a portion of the route is somewhat untenable, ill-advised or otherwise requires you to stop for alternate directions. (As parodied in the above frame from a larger XKCD comic.) You can usually spot this, but a woman who used Google Maps for a pedestrian route on her BlackBerry is now suing Google because the directions given had her walking for a mile down a highway, concluding with the woman being struck by a car:

On January 19, 2010, (Lauren) Rosenberg was apparently trying to get from 96 Daly Street, Park City, Utah, to 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, Utah. She looked up the walking directions using Google Maps on her Blackberry. Google Maps suggested a route that included a half-mile walk down “Deer Valley Drive,” which is also known as “Utah State Route 224.”

Sometime while walking down “Utah State Route 224,” Rosenberg was struck by a vehicle driven by Patrick Harwood of Park City, Utah. She is now suing Google for $100,000 to cover medical expenses and for punitive damages. She is also suing Harwood. As PC World points out, Google Maps does address the spotty coverage issue for walking directions- a note indicates:

“Walking directions are in beta. Use caution–This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”

Since the warning doesn’t appear in smartphone versions of the service, it’s completely reasonably to expect that users will walk into traffic and nearly die and that the service should be disabled for all of us because one of us almost got killed using it.

Woman sues Google Maps after she is hit by a car is a post from: The Inquisitr

Vodafone back in January 2009 thought £20 million ($30 million) to buy Swedish mapmaker Wayfinder was a steal, fast forward to the companies closing this month and it shows just how quickly a tech company can fall prey to newer, better and free technologies.

Much of the companies troubles are believed to have come from Google who recently announced their own free voice guided turn-by-turn directions, along with Nokia Ovi Maps which are also being offered at no cost.

Vodafone’s Anna Cloke told Engadget that the decision to end WayFinder map technology came about becuase:

“We could not charge for something that others gave away for free.”

Wayfinder didn’t have the leverage of a TomTom or Garmin, but given how much their stock prices were devastated by Google’s announcement, either one of those companies could end up the way of Wayfinder, come one or two more new technological advances by Google.

Oh well, I’m sure the retailers making $10 margin off Garmin and TomTom units won’t be too disappointed (BTW…I’m serious about the $10 margin).

Wayfinder Feels The Google Effect, Closes Doors is a post from: The Inquisitr

I haven’t seen this vector for spam before so excuse me if this isn’t something new but it is for me. I just got both these emails not 5 minutes ago and as you can see below (click for full size) they came via a Google noreply email address which is once way to make it through spam filter since most people won’t blacklist a Google domain.

Now the thing about being sent through Google Maps is something that I don’t know anything about but maybe someone with more Google knowledge can clarify this part.

Regardless though it seems that the spammers have found a new way to pollute our email.

Thanks a lot ya pricks.

Spammers hitting us through Google Maps emails is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google is grabbing headlines left, right and center today with a bunch of new Googley stuff announced.

In addition to real time results and a new visual search feature, Google is (snail) mailing a bunch of barcodes to businesses across the US, branding them “favorite places.” Smartphones equipped with specific apps and a camera will be able to scan the decals, linking directly to the business’ page in Google Local Business Center. The slightly Yelp-like feature should be a great thing for non-chain businesses, who rely more on word of mouth to provide foot traffic.

The program is obviously opt-in, and businesses with a lame rating might choose not to participate. But a mere 3,700 places were selected in my local area (New York City), which is pretty selective considering the high volume of restaurants, bars, clubs and “massage parlors” based here. Businesses participating in Google’s Local Business Center can also offer mobile coupons, a really attractive incentive more businesses should get off their asses and implement.

Notable people like Moby, Cynthia Rowley, and Regis and Kelly have commented on the NYC places, and it wouldn’t be a new Google thing without a flashy YouTube video:

Google to brand 100,000 “favorite places” with window barcodes is a post from: The Inquisitr

Technology companies typically need to move forward in order to stay ahead of the competition, however in the case of Google Maps Navigation for Google Android, the search giant actually moved in the opposite direction, back porting their program for use on the Android 1.6 Mobile OS.

The move, which was announced on Monday brings Google Maps Navigation to such popular devices as the myTouch 3G and T-mobile G1, providing a wider audience to the companies free navigation software.

The move could also help extend the “life expectancy” of the T-Mobile G1, the worlds first Android Smartphone, a move that shows the true scaling functionality of the companies open source mobile operating system.

Android 1.6 users can immediately download the program from the Android Marketplace

Google Maps Navigation Gets Back Ported To Android 1.6 is a post from: The Inquisitr

A lot of folks might give Google flack over its 800 pound gorilla status whenever it enters into a new arena, myself included, but there are times where the company’s stature does do some good. Such as case is Google’s decision to start using its own accumulated mapping data for the back end of Google Maps. Up until this point it had been using the data provided by Tele Atlas and Navteq before that to populate their Maps data points.

In his post announcing the change Frederic Lardinois at ReadWriteWeb discusses the reasons why Google made the change

The question, of course, is why Google plans to make its own maps now. For one, chances are that Google is currently paying Tele Atlas a lot of money for using its maps. Mapping services are notoriously protective of how their data can be used, which is one of the reasons Apple can’t offer turn-by-turn directions in the built-in mapping application on the iPhone, for example. Google probably wants to be free to do whatever it wants to do with its maps without having to worry about licensing issues.

By providing its own maps and an API for others to use these maps, Google could potentially become a major competitor to Tele Atlas and Navteq now and if Google continues to make these maps easily available to developers without cumbersome licensing restrictions, it could bring radical change to the mapping business.

For much too long niche businesses like Tele Atlas have been able to charge exorbitant amounts of money for their services only because the competition in their field  was so narrow. Regardless of how companies in niche businesses might like to claim that because their potential area of business is so small and so much work goes into providing their service they need to charge the high fees that they do.

Unfortunately this kind of action has a negative impact on innovation because of the high cost of building interesting and useful accessory services. By Google stepping into the map making business the way that they are they have removed that barrier which can only lead to innovative uses of that data.

If I were Tele Atlas or Nokia’s Navteq division I’d be doing some serious reconsideration of fees and data access because Google has once again changed the game in another industry.

Google’s challenge to mapmaker exclusivity is a good thing is a post from: The Inquisitr

This very useful site also lets you zoom in on a specific rabbit or spot, so you can see which kind of carnal relation he or she just enjoyed. The five graphical representations of positions should cover the basics and all you have to do is tick the right box or boxes. You can also add a comment and tell us if it was indoor or outdoor.

Some users might find the 20 minutes update prevention a bit annoying, but the site is over capacitated, so I guess thats fair enough.

Currently 11,165 users has shared their moment of passion with 5 in Iran, 2 in Saudia Arabia and 10 in the North Atlantic Ocean (!?)

Tell the World where You Had Sex – IJustMadeLove.com is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google Map mash-ups, there’s all kinds of them. Some are mundane while others can be really interesting. In the latter would fall this mashup from The New York Times where they mash together a map of the five boroughs of New York and add in all the murders that happened in them.

The map includes all the murders that have happened between 2003 and up until 2009. Each of the blue dots you see on that is where a murder took place. When you hover the mouse over one of the blue dots a few details about the murder will be displayed.

You can zoom right in street map level as well

Now this is a rather cool idea and an interesting way to check out potential neighborhoods you might want to move to – just in case you know.

Cool idea, it just sucks that it is based on murder is a post from: The Inquisitr

Here’s a screenshot showing #25. Kayak across the Pacific Ocean:

And here’s a screenshot from Google Maps suggesting stopping in Hawaii when you Kayak across the Pacific, a wise move if you ask me.

Google loves putting odd little things like this in their services for users to find and back in 2007 the guys over at Ghacks.net found that in the suggested directions for going from Berlin to Fort Knox, it suggested Swimming across the Atlantic Ocean.

Google Maps Suggests Kayaking Across the Pacific Ocean is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hitwise found Google Maps actually caught up with MapQuest for a short time in late December. MapQuest somehow regained its momentum, though, and has reasserted its lead somewhat since then. Still, the race is growing increasingly close.

As of last week, MapQuest had 11 percent more traffic than Google Maps, according to Hitwise’s data.

Interestingly (but perhaps not surprisingly), Google Maps is dominating when it comes to specific location-based search terms. Nearly two-thirds of Google Maps’ traffic comes from Google Search, the data indicates. Google Maps received visits from 72,074 unique search terms, compared to only 11,466 for MapQuest.

The reason? MapQuest, it seems, gets the majority of its search traffic from searches for its own name (or variations on it). People search for “mapquest” or “mapquest driving directions.” Google Maps, having the advantage of being more integrated into Google Search, gets more varied and location-specific references rather than just people looking for the service in general.

Google Maps Gaining on MapQuest is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google has released a major overhaul for Google Street View, delivering new functionality that makes the service easier and more friendly to use.

The new Street View revolves around “Pegman” a Clippy like character that users can drag and drop anywhere to view Street View. Better still, users can hold Pegman over a location for a second to see a preview of what the Street View image looks like before deciding on the full shot.

Street View also goes big screen with an inset map, allowing for better viewing of images, and quicker switching, per the screenshot above.

Directions are now offered in Street View for the first time: users can plot where they want to go, and walk through the route visual on Street View.

The changes aren’t perhaps amazing, but they are very nice. Video demo follows:

Google Street View gets a very nice overhaul is a post from: The Inquisitr