Is Google profiting from illegal ads? [View All]

Source: The Washington Post

They’re impossible to miss online: all those ads hawking cheap drugs, penny stock fortunes, low mortgage rates and instant wrinkle-zapping solutions. For consumers, it’s not always obvious which operators are legitimate.

Search companies such as Google say they work hard to make sure ads that run alongside their search results are law-biding businesses. But government investigators have raised questions about whether Google and other major search engines have profited from selling ads to illegal online companies.

Critics say consumers can be left in a lurch, while companies profit from selling ads.

Internet companies can be liable for any ads run on their sites that violate U.S. law. The Justice Department and other federal agencies are investigating Google for accepting ads from illegal online pharmacies. The company has set aside $500 million for a potential settlement of the criminal probe.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/is-google-profiting-from-illegal-ads/2011/05/18/AFXsQD7G_story.html