Google Forfeits $500 Million Generated by Online Ads & Prescription Drug Sales by Canadian Online Pharmacies by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book, August 31, 2011 From the Department of Justice: “Google Inc. has agreed to forfeit $500 million for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place advertisements through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States, resulting in the unlawful importation of controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States.” This is one the largest forfeitures in US history, and while $500 million is a drop in the ocean compared to the $30 billion that AdWords pulls in for Google each year, it illustrates just how seriously the Obama Administration is taking online compliance issues. Publishers and networks take note. Filed under: Revenue Tagged under: Adwords, Legal About the Author Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book Chris Trayhorn is the Chairman of the Performance Marketing Industry Blue Ribbon Panel and the CEO of mThink.com, a leading online and content marketing agency. He has founded four successful marketing companies in London and San Francisco in the last 15 years, and is currently the founder and publisher of Revenue+Performance magazine, the magazine of the performance marketing industry since 2002.