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France fines Google €1.1 million with its hotel rankings for 'misleading' customers
For allegedly 'misleading' consumers with their rankings of hotels and other tourist accommodations, France fined Google €1,1 million.
The French consumer watchdog and finance ministry's 2019 investigation found that the tech giant was guilty of "misleading commercial practice"
Google Ireland and Google France have agreed, after approval by the Paris public prosecutor, to pay the fine as part of a settlement, the ministry said.
Since then, both organizations have modified their practices, it added in a statement.
After complaints from hotels, France's Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) launched a probe into Google in September 2019.
Compared to the official classification issued by Atout France, the country's Tourism Development Agency, companies had argued that the display of around 7,500 hotels on Google's search engine was unfair.
The watchdog found that Google had substituted their own criteria for the Atout France ranking, but had used an identical 1 to 5 "stars" system, which was "highly confusing" for customers.
This practice was especially detrimental to consumers who were misled about the level of service they could expect when booking accommodation,"This practice was particularly damaging for consumers, who were misled about the level of service they could expect when booking accommodation,"
It was also detrimental to hoteliers whose establishments were incorrectly described as being lower than in the official classification of Atout France.'
Google has "corrected their practices" since September 2019 and reverted to the official classification issued by Atout France.
We have now settled with the DGCCRF and made the necessary changes to only reflect the official French star rating for hotels on Google Maps and Search, a spokesperson for the company told Euronews.
Google indicated that a variety of sources, including Atout France, used their previous classification of hotels, as well as feedback from hoteliers and other party sources.
The settlement with the DGCCRF does not affect the ability of users to rate hotels on Google and review them.
Google was also fined EUR 35 million in December by France's online data privacy watchdog for allegedly breaching cookie rules.
Both Google and Amazon have automatically placed advertising trackers on user computers without asking for consent, the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) has said.
