1PlusV is suing Google for 295 million Euros ($417.7), alleging the company used its market dominance to block the development of alternative services. The French company is one of four, including Microsoft, which has accused Google of abusing its dominant position by demoting rival sites in search results and giving preference to its own services. The allegation has triggered an investigation by the European Commission.
1plusV, which runs the Ejustice.fr legal website and search engine, says that Google prevented it from developing specialized "vertical" search engines and crippled its ability to generate business and advertising and the claim is for lost profits.
A lawyer for 1PlusV said Google had been served notice of the damage claim. The claim will be filed with the Paris commercial court and piles on more scrutiny of Google following the opening last week of a formal probe into its business by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
1plusV accused Google of suffocating rivals through its policy of tying its advertising service Adsense to its own search engine.
The European Commission is now investigating the complaints. The European Union executive, with the power to fine companies up to 10 per cent of their global turnover for breaching EU rules, has hit Microsoft with total fines of more than 1 billion Euros.
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