Search engines sued over gambling ads
6 August 2004
A class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court has accused a group of search engines, including Google and Yahoo, of promoting online gambling.
The lawsuit, filed by law firm Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia & Robbins under California's unfair business practices laws, seeks to prevent the companies named from accepting advertisements for illegal internet gaming and to force them to provide restitution and accounting for all illegal gambling proceeds received.
"The lawsuit is about stopping search engines from being active advertisers of illegal gambling," said Ira Rothken, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The suit, which was filed in state court in San Francisco, claims internet gambling harms regulated gambling business on Indian reservations and causes losses to consumers.
Google spokesman Steve Langdon issued a denial of the accusations and insists the company does not sell advertisements to firms that promote online gambling. He cited company guidelines stating that it does not permit "ads for online casinos, sports books, bingo and affiliates with the primary purpose of driving traffic to online gambling sites."
A spokesperson for Yahoo said the company does not accept advertisements for online gambling or adult content.
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