Google has agreed to pay a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.86 million) after French authorities concluded the search engine displayed “misleading” rankings for French hotels. Previously, Google used the official source Atout France as well as input from other hotel industry websites in its algorithm to rank hotels from one to five stars, however, changed practices to use its own criteria.

After receiving complaints from hoteliers about Google’s rankings, the French government’s fraud and competition agency launched an investigation in 2019 and 2020 to monitor “the nature and fairness of the information provided by the platform” across 7,500 establishments.

The agency found that Google’s new rankings differed from the previous ones – generally ranked lower – and consumers were misled about benefits they would receive during stays.

Overall, the new system was confusing and “particularly damaging,” to both consumers and hotel owners, said the agency.

Google says that it has now made the “necessary changes to only reflect the official French star rating for hotels on Google Maps and Search.”