The federal government has shut down dozens of Internet scam artists who had been paying Google to run ads making bogus promises to help desperate homeowners scrambling to avoid foreclosures. The crackdown announced Wednesday renews questions about the role that Google’s massive advertising network plays in enabling online misconduct. It may also increase the pressure on the company to be more vigilant about screening the marketing pitches that appear alongside its Internet search results and other Web content. The criminal investigation into alleged mortgage swindlers comes three months after Google agreed to pay $500 million to avoid prosecution in Rhode Island for profiting from online ads from Canadian pharmacies that illegally sold drugs in the U.S. A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department division overseeing the probe into online mortgage scams declined to comment on its scope other than to say it’s still ongoing.
Google Inc. also declined to comment. No company wants to be tainted by a criminal investigation, but the prospect is even more nettlesome for Google because it has embraced “Don’t be evil” as its corporate motto. To fight future abuse, Google has suspended its business ties with more than 500 advertisers and agencies connected to the alleged scams, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The evidence collected in the current investigation led to the government’s closure of 85 alleged mortgage scams. The identities of the businesses and people involved in the scams weren’t disclosed Wednesday. Read the full story by The Associated Press here.
