French search engine 1PlusV said it was suing Google before the Paris Commercial Court, claiming that the search provider was abusing its dominant market position by demoting or blocking rival services.
"We have only just received the complaint so we can't comment in detail yet. We always try to do what's best for our users. It's the key principle that drives our company and we look forward to explaining this," Google said in a statement released today.
The French company's decision is not out of the blue as it owns eJustice.fr, a company which filed a similar complaint againt Google at the European Commission last year alongside two other websites Foundem.com and Microsoft's Ciao.
On the back of these complaints, the European Commission began a formal investigation into Google's search function in November last year.
Last week, the US Federal Trade Commission announced it was investigating the company's search-advertising business after similar complaints to the American antitrust authority.
1plusV has filed a separate complaint in Paris as it cannot seek damages before the European Commission. The French company has accused Google of stifling rivals by tying Adsense, its advertising service, to the Google search engine.
According to a statement released by the company, Google has been "pursuing a strategy of foreclosure against vertical search engines on the market for natural reference listing, online advertising linked to searches and in the sector for production and commercialisation of search technologies".
"Between 2007 and 2010, no less than 30 vertical search engines created by 1plusV were black-listed, some of which showed significant business potential," the statement continued.
Adsense allows customer websites to display ads which relate to either their content or searches made by users.
