New information has come to light about a 2009 sting operation that focused on the aid Google provided for illegal online prescription drug sales.
The sting began after federal prosecutors set up a task force to look into allegations by David Whitaker that he was able to start an online pharmacy and sell steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) to consumers in the U.S. via Google ads.
Whitaker posed as an agent for advertisers and worked with federal agents to try to set up a Web site that was designed to look as if it had been set up by a Mexican drug lord to sell HGH and steroids.
Although Google initially rejected that site as well as another one that was designed to sell drugs over the Internet, the company's ad executives allegedly helped Whitaker bypass Google's rules so that the sites could be set up.
Federal agents also created several other sites, including one that was based outside the U.S. and sold the abortion pill RU-486, which can in the U.S. can only be administered to patients in doctor's offices.
Google approved the creation of that site and made it so that consumers in the U.S. who searched for RU-486 would see an ad for the site.
Google also allowed the ad for the site to say that the drug was available without a prescription.
Agents later added links to the site that allowed consumers to purchase the drugs directly, which violated U.S. laws that forbid the sale of drugs from outside the country and without a prescription.
Records in the case indicate that Google executives may have known about the legal problems with the ads.
Google eventually settled the case for $500 million and said that it had improperly and knowingly helped online pharmacy advertisers run ads for illegal pharmaceutical sales.