Ouch! Google to Pay $500m Drug Ad Fine

Date: 25 Aug 2011

Google are paying the price for allowing some Canadian online pharmacies to sell illegally online to the US market - to the tune of $500 million US.

Google held their hands up and admitted that they should not have let this happen at all, saying in a statement:

"We banned the advertising of prescription drugs in the US by Canadian pharmacies some time ago. However, it's obvious with hindsight that we should not have allowed these ads on Google in the first place."

By agreeing to pay this fine, Google will avoid prosecution in the States - as they profited from revenue generated by these illegal pharmacy sales.