Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Reach Gambling Ad Settlement

Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., and Microsoft Corp., are the three largest Internet companies. They all now have something else in common. All will be paying large sums of money for their roles in allegedly taking illegal gambling ads.

$31.5 million will be paid between the three companies. All three have also agreed to stop accepting ads for sports wagering and other online gambling sites.

The breakdown of money is as follows, Microsoft was hit the hardest, having to pay $21 million. Yahoo settled for $7.5 million. Google was the lightest hit of the three Internet giants, only having to pay $3 million.

"While we did not admit any wrongdoing. The Department of Justice has advised that online gambling is illegal in the United States and ads to promote it are improper. Google voluntarily discontinued running such ads, which were a very small part of our AdWords business, in April 2004," said spokesman Jon Murchinson.

The investigation into the three groups accepting the gambling ads was done by U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway's office, in conjunction with the FBI and IRS. Negotiations were ongoing for the past year to year and a half before the settlement was finally reached.

December 19, 2007
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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