Google earns millions of pounds from its online advertising service, AdWords Google is profiting from ads for illegal products generated by its flagship automated advertising system, the BBC has found.
The ads include unofficial London 2012 Olympics ticket resellers, as well as cannabis and fake ID card sellers.These ads were promptly removed by Google after the BBC brought them to the company's attention.
Google has also taken down links to illegal Olympic ticket resellers following requests from the police.
But the search giant told 5 live Investigates that the company keeps any money it might make from companies advertising illegal services before such adverts are removed.
Selling tickets on the open market without permission from the Olympic authorities is a criminal offence in the UK under the London Olympic and Paralympic Games Act 2006.
Not official sellers
Liz, who declined to give her full name, contacted the 5 live Investigates team.
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When we are informed of ads which break our policies, we investigate and remove them if appropriate”
"Me and my sisters decided to club together to buy our mum and dad some Olympic tickets," said Liz, who is from Solihull.
"So we typed into Google 'Olympic tickets' and at the very, very top of the page was a link to a company called LiveOlympicTickets."It was a sponsored ad at the top of the page, so we presumed it was a trusted official site, and we spent £750 on two tickets for my mum and dad to see the 1500m, which is what my dad really wanted."
The advert Liz clicked on was one placed by Google's own AdWords advertising service - one of the company's main sources of income.
However, after placing her order, Liz received an email from the company informing her that they could not complete the sale until she faxed over a copy of her signature.
"That's when alarm bells began ringing," said Liz.
LiveOlympicTickets is not an officially recognised 2012 Olympic ticket reseller.
A family member of Liz's wrote to Google, and received this reply: "While Google AdWords provides a platform for companies to advertise their services, we are not responsible for, nor are we able to monitor the actions of each company."
Promoting ticket touts The Metropolitan Police, which is dedicated to stopping crime associated with the 2012 games through Operation Podium, said it is aware of LiveOlympicTickets and that the company is breaking the law.
It is a criminal offence in the UK to sell London 2012 Olympic tickets without the organisers' permission The maximum penalty fine for reselling Olympic tickets without authorisation from the Olympic authorities was raised last year from £5,000 to £20,000.
Despite this, Google has placed adverts for unofficial ticket resellers which are breaking the law by selling London 2012 tickets to customers in the UK. Continued
1 comment:
Ads do help. Similar to marketing it on the internet.
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