Google Expected to Settle Over Drug Ads, to the Tune of $500M

Posted by timothy on Friday May 13, 2011 @12:03AM from the don't-worry-the-government-is-here dept.

Animats writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that 'Google Inc. is close to settling a US criminal investigation into allegations it made hundreds of millions of dollars by accepting ads from online pharmacies that break US laws.' Google's acceptance of ads from unlicensed 'online pharmacies' is considered profiting from illegal activity. The Washington Post reports 'the inquiry could draw more attention to how vulnerable Google's automated system has been to the machinations of shady operators.'" The expected settlement's magnitude was hinted at in a recent SEC filing, which disclosed that Google has set aside a half-billion dollar fund on which to draw in this case.

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Re:Go go Google by bioster · 2011-05-13 00:56 · Score: 4, Informative

Surprisingly, the laws in different countries are different. For example, in Canada there are some drugs which are completely legal to sell without a prescription whereas in the states you would need a prescription.

FTA:

The federal investigation has examined whether Google knowingly accepted ads from online pharmacies, based in Canada and elsewhere, that violated U.S. laws, according to the people familiar with the matter.
So it looks like this is more of a cross-border shopping issue than anything else. People are going online and buying from Canadian companies things that are completely legal to buy and sell in Canada, but happen to be illegal where they are.

I'm not entirely sure why you didn't get this, since the article itself points it out, AND the comment you responded to points it out.