Google have been ordered to pay newly signed Williams driver Rubens Barrichello half a million dollars in damages because it hosted fake profiles of him on social networking site Orkut.

There are some 300 fake profiles under Barrichello’s name on the site

A court in Sao Paolo, Brazil, ordered Google – which owns Orkut – to pay $500,000 damages but this could rise to $700,000, because there could be an extra daily fine. The case is not a new one – it began in July 2006.

Google are yet to comment on the matter.