Amended Complaint Alleges Four Additional Defendants Violated Google AdWords Policy

November 12, 2010 4:36 PM

On October 19, 2010, Google filed a complaint amending its September 2010 federal lawsuit and alleging that four additional defendants were involved in schemes to circumvent AdWords policies in order to promote Internet drug outlets. The September 21, 2010 federal lawsuit was filed against two individuals and 50 unnamed defendants. Amending this complaint, the lawsuit now also accuses Gregory Gavin, Amanda Odell, Joey Patron, and Gina Wyant of opening multiple AdWords accounts to promote a Web site that is not VIPPS^® (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites^CM) accredited and offers a Schedule III medication without requiring a prescription. According to a Partnership for Safe Medicines news report, the defendants are accused of misspelling and formatting ad content to get around Google’s advertisement verification software. More information about the lawsuit as filed in September is available in a Google blog post. As of February 9, 2010, Google will only accept advertisements from Internet pharmacies in the United States that are VIPPS accredited.