Google Is Said to Have Broken Internal Rules on Drug Ads

Source: The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Google allowed rogue online pharmacies to advertise on its site in violation of its own advertising policies, according to one of the companies subpoenaed in the federal investigation of Google’s drug ad sales.

The investigation, which Google has set aside $500 million to settle, concerns whether Google illegally displayed ads from online pharmacies that operate outside the law by selling counterfeit drugs or by not requiring a prescription.

Until early 2010, Google required that all online pharmacies be verified by PharmacyChecker.com, which says it checks the credentials of online pharmacies. But many of the rogue pharmacies that advertised on Google during that period never applied to PharmacyChecker.com, according to Gabriel Levitt, vice president of the verification site.

The investigation, which came to light this week after Google disclosed the $500 million charge in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is Google’s latest scuffle with regulators, who have also been investigating the company over antitrust issues and privacy violations. The Food and Drug Administration, the Justice Department and the United States attorney for Rhode Island, Peter F. Neronha, are involved.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/technology/14google.html