Google forfeits $500,000,000 in Justice Department probe of AdWords ads by Canadian pharmacies

CNET reports that Google has agreed to forfeit half a billion dollars, covering the gross revenue it is estimated to have received as a result of Canadian pharmacies advertising through Google's AdWords program, and the gross revenue made by those pharmacies from their sales to U.S. consumers.

"We banned the advertising of prescription drugs in the U.S. by Canadian pharmacies some time ago," a spokesman for the company said in an e-mail. "However, it's obvious with hindsight that we shouldn't have allowed these ads on Google in the first place."

The U.S. Department of Justice had this to say in its press release:

...Under the terms of an agreement signed by Google and the government, Google acknowledges that it improperly assisted Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to run advertisements that targeted the United States through AdWords, and the company accepts responsibility for this conduct. In addition to requiring Google to forfeit $500 million, the agreement also sets forth a number of compliance and reporting measures which must be taken by Google in order to insure that the conduct described in the agreement does not occur in the future.
     The investigation of Google had its origins in a separate, multimillion dollar financial fraud investigation unrelated to Google, the main target of which fled to Mexico. While a fugitive, he began to advertise the unlawful sale of drugs through Google’s AdWords program. After being apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States by the U.S. Secret Service, he began cooperating with law enforcement and provided information about his use of the AdWords program. During the ensuing investigation of Google, the government established a number of undercover websites for the purpose of advertising the unlawful sale of controlled and non-controlled substances through Google’s AdWords program...