2011-05-13 10:14

SAN FRANCISCO - The Wall Street Journal is citing a government investigation into Google's selling online ads for illegal drug sales as the reason why the Internet search leader recently set aside $500 million to pay for a possible settlement.

In a Thursday article on its website, the newspaper reported the US Attorney in Rhode Island and the US Food and Drug Administration have been leading a probe into whether Google profited from the illegal drug ads. The Journal attributed the information to unnamed people familiar with matter.

Representatives from Google Inc., the FDA and the US Attorney in Rhode Island all declined to comment Thursday.

Google disclosed in a vague regulatory filing earlier this week that it was preparing to pay $500 million to resolve a Justice Department investigation.