The authority also said a 500-million euro fine it had imposed on Google last year was now definitive, as the U.S. online giant had dropped an appeal against it. Google paid the fine last year.

The decisions bring to an end the authority's investigation against Google, which has accepted to hold talks with news agencies and other publishers to pay for the use of their news.

The ruling comes amid increasing international pressure on online platforms such as Google and Facebook to share more revenue with news outlets.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Silvia Aloisi)