France vs. Google

How does Google annoy France? Let me count the ways.

This week, the Agence France Presse sued Google for allegedly infringing on its copyrights by using the new outlet's photos and headlines without its permission. Among thousands of other news sources, Agence France Presse's stories and photos populate Google News, an aggregated hub or "cheat sheet" for popular news of the day.

The case, filed in the U.S. District Court of Columbia, will be closely watched and could embolden other publishers to strike at Google for its increasing power in the news aggregation business. Could this be the beginning of the Aggregator's unraveling?

Also this week, Google lost another round in French courts over its practice of selling trademark names as keyword triggers to search results, and rivals' ads. This time Google lost an appeal in a case brought by French travel companies Luteciel and Viaticum. Numerous other advertisers have sued Google's subsidiary, and the French courts so far have ruled in favor of copyright holders, throwing in question Google's business model in that country.

Finally, France's President Jacques Chirac said this week that the country would start its own digital-book project, competing with Google's "print" ambitions.

In another light, Google may just be joining the ranks of loathed American dot-coms in France. Yahoo cofounder Tim Koogle at one point was under threat of house arrest in the country over a case involving the sale of Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo France. Or it could just be a competitive thing. After all, France is the country with the largest number of CEOs who blog--following the U.S., according to TheNewPR/Wiki.