Google has reached a landmark $500m settlement with federal prosecutors to halt a criminal investigation into its acceptance of advertisements from companies selling unlicensed pharmaceuticals.
The accord is one of the largest in the history of online advertising and allows the world’s most popular search engine to avoid prosecution in a probe by the US attorney in Rhode Island, Department of Justice officials in Washington and the Food and Drug Administration.
A deal had been expected since May, after the advertising powerhouse reserved $500m for an unspecified legal matter and people involved in the talks confirmed that negotiations were underway.