Internet giant, Google has been ordered by French Court to compensate by paying thousands of dollars to France-based mapping company for allegedly altering competition in the market by offering its own service for free to the users.

The French firm, Bottin Cartographes offers map services to businesses in the country for a fee. The company had filed an unfair competition complaint against Google France as its parent company Google Inc. It argued that Google is involved in anticompetitive practices by providing free mapping services in the country.

A court in Paris sided with the French firm and directed Google to pay 500,000 Euros in damages and interest along with a 15,000 Euro fine. The ruling comes after two years of legal battle between the two firms.

Bottin Cartographes' lawyer, Jean-David Scemmama said his team was able to prove that Google's strategy is illegal and unfair and abusive to competition. He added that it the first time that Google has been convicted for its Google Maps service.

Google France spokesman has responded by saying that the company will fight the ruling. "We will appeal this decision. 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," the spokesman said.