Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday January 16 2018, @04:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the as-if-addiction-were-only-temporary dept.

Google temporarily bans addiction center ads globally following exposure of seedy referral deals

Google is temporarily halting advertisements worldwide for addiction and rehabilitation centers, following a report last week showing it was acting as a platform for shady referral services earning huge undisclosed commissions.

Essentially these ads, which commanded huge prices on Google's networks, would show for people seeking addiction treatment; the help lines and services listed would then refer the person to an addiction center. These centers were, unknown to their new patients, paying enormous finders fees to the referral services, on the order of tens of thousands of dollars.

The ads were already banned in the U.S., but were banned in the UK following a Sunday Times investigation. Google then extended that ban worldwide.

Also at The Verge.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:24AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:24AM (#623005)

    They use solid gold electrodes for your shock therapy?

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday January 16 2018, @06:21AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday January 16 2018, @06:21AM (#623014) Homepage Journal

    Each ward only holds a couple dozen patients, but even so they have five or six staff members in each one.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]