Google's Drug Problem: Ads Continued in Spite of Warnings [REPORT]

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If the company did knowingly allow illegally operating companies to use its advertising platform, it could have to pay the Department of Justice up to $500 million, one of the largest sums ever paid to the government in a corporate dispute.

In the DOJ’s investigation, officials are trying to determine whether Google worked with advertisers who were promoting illegal activities, such as selling controlled pharmaceuticals to U.S. citizens from pharmacies operating in Canada and other countries.

Now, according to evidence that has been reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, "state regulators and industry watchdogs" may have repeatedly alerted Google to the illegal activity. These warnings had been coming to Google since at least 2003 and intensified in 2008, when ads from illegal online pharmacies appeared in Google ads even after the company started using a third-party verification system.

Just a few months ago, Google announced it was suing online pharmacy advertisers for breaking the search engine's terms of service and violating U.S. federal laws by using the Google ad network to sell prescription medication without a prescription. However, given the timing, this announcement may have simply been a face-saving reaction to DOJ probes.