Google reaches $500 million settlement with DOJ over drug ads

We had heard that Google irked authorities at the Department of Justice when ads advertising illegal and counterfeit drugs started popping up. But, we didn't realize just how expensive the offense would be. The government is expected to announce a $500 million settlement with the web giant later today that cut quarterly profits by 22-percent. Google told the New York Times that it had since banned the advertisers, but admitted they never should have been allowed in the first place. We'll just have to go back to getting our cheap Viagra where we used too -- our spam folder.