The Impossibility Of Google Blocking All Pill Factories From Advertising

We've already noted just how ridiculous the US government's decision to take $500 million from Google is, because some Canadian pharmacies advertised on the site to Americans. It just doesn't make sense to blame the platform provider for the actions of its users. If Canadian pharmacies are violating US laws in shipping to Americans, then block the shipments. But don't just take money from Google. And, of course, the reality is that most of the Canadian pharmacies selling to Americans were selling legitimate products and were actually helping to keep people healthy by letting them purchase affordable meds.

But the bigger issue is this idea that Google somehow has to magically block all pharmaceutical ads or face additional lawsuits. Already, it appears that Google is failing in this endeavor. John Nagle noticed some indications that ads for fake drugs were still getting through, and presented some evidence. In exploring the example he presented, I think he might have confused advertisements for (somewhat questionable, and probably useless) herbal supplements that are named like some prescription drugs, but that's not necessarily advertising fake pills. It's sketchy, but it's not clear that it completely violates the "no fake drugs" rule.

However, continuing to look through some similar examples suggests that other sellers of fake drugs are still very much advertising on Google. I'm not going to provide links here, but it didn't take long before I saw a series of Google AdSense ads, such as the following: The top two, at the very least, appear to be directly advertising Viagra. Clicking on the second one brings up a site that claims to be selling Viagra via an "official certified pharmacy" but with no prescription. As far as I know (meaning, according to Wikipedia), Viagra still requires a prescription. Now, it may be easy to knock Google here, which claims that it is no longer accepting such advertising. But the bigger issue is that this demonstrates exactly why you're not supposed to hold a platform liable for the actions of its users. No matter what Google tries to do to block ads that advertise "illegal" drugs, people are going to figure out a way to get through, and it's ridiculous to pin the blame on Google. It can't hand monitor every such ad.

Furthermore, this seems to highlight the increased risk people are put at due to this effort by the Justice Department. The Canadian pharmacies that Google got in trouble for dealing with weren't selling fake pills. They were selling legitimate pills for re-importation into the US. On the other hand, it seems likely that what's left and getting through in the ads, such as the one in the screenshot above, is almost certainly fake... and potentially dangerous. Wouldn't people be better off getting ads from actual certified pharmacies, rather than from something like what you see above?

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Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110902/03415915781/impossibility-google-blocking-all-pill-factories-advertising.shtml

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