Google whacked with $500m drugs fine

Search monster settles with US Department of Justice for six years of Canadian pharmaceutical ads and imports

Google will pay $500m to settle a case brought by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) which alleges the company profited from Canadian pharmacies that used its AdWords system to punt prescription drugs at US consumers.

The half-billion-dollar settlement - one of the largest ever in the US, according to the DoJ's statement - covers not just the money Google made from the Canadian pharmacies' use of AdWords, but also the revenue made by the pharmacies from illegal traffic of pharmaceuticals into the US over that time.

The severity of the punishment reflects the fact that Google knew about the ads in 2003 and blocked ads from other countries, but not from Canada until 2009 when the DoJ launched its investigation, said the DoJ.

The settlement also establishes "compliance and reporting measures" to ensure Google does not do the same thing again.