Hey—we've moved. Visit
The Keyword
for all the latest news and stories from Google
Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Taking rogue pharmacies to court
21 de septiembre de 2010
We work very hard to make sure that ads shown on Google provide useful information for our users. But sometimes we need to take action against ads that violate our policies, as when we block malware ads, or when we
filed suit last year against “Google Money” scammers
. This is especially true when it comes to advertising for products such as pharmaceuticals, which can be dangerous without the right prescription.
Like many online services, we have struggled with this problem for years. It’s been an ongoing, escalating cat-and-mouse game—as we and others build new safeguards and guidelines, rogue online pharmacies always try new tactics to get around those protections and illegally sell drugs on the web. In recent years, we have noticed a marked increase in the number of rogue pharmacies, as well an increasing sophistication in their methods. This has meant that despite our best efforts—from extensive verification procedures, to automated keyword blocking, to changing our ads policies—a small percentage of pharma ads from these rogue companies is still appearing on Google.
So this morning we filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against advertisers we believe have deliberately broken our rules. Litigation of this kind should act as a serious deterrent to anyone thinking about circumventing our policies to advertise illegally on Google. As we identify additional bad actors, we will add them to the lawsuit. Rogue pharmacies are bad for our users, for legitimate online pharmacies and for the entire e-commerce industry—so we are going to keep investing time and money to stop these kinds of harmful practices.
Posted by Michael Zwibelman, Litigation Counsel
Etiquetas
Africa
19
Android
58
April 1
4
Asia
39
Europe
46
Latin America
18
accessibility
41
acquisition
26
ads
131
apps
419
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
33
culture
12
developers
120
diversity
35
doodles
68
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
73
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
202
green
102
maps and earth
194
mobile
124
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
39
policy and issues
139
politics
71
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
505
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2016
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2015
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2014
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2013
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2012
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2011
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2010
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2009
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2008
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2007
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2006
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2005
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
mar
feb
ene
2004
dic
nov
oct
sept
ago
jul
jun
may
abr
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
