Google to pay $500 million fine for rogue pharma ads

Google is reportedly set to hand over half a billion dollars to the feds to settle a criminal investigation into the search giant profiting from rogue pharmacy ads, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google revealed a hint of the settlement earlier this week in a filing to the SEC that said it was setting aside $500 million for a government settlement, but didn’t specify why.

According to the WSJ’s Thursday report, the FDA and Rhode Island’s attorney general have been looking into whether Google profited illegally from ads placed by non-US pharmacies. Google and other search sites blocked many overseas pharmacy ads in early 2010, because it’s illegal for U.S. citizens to have such drugs imported.

Google did, however, make an exception for Canadian pharmacies—though it limited them to ones approved by a licensing body.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/05/google-to-pay-500-million-fine-for-rogue-pharma-ads.ars

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576319572448399628.html