Bing’s Illegal Rogue Pharmacy Ads: “Online Street Corners”
August 6, 2009
(ChattahBox)—A new report reveals that Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, profits from illegal online pharmacy ads, which are likened in the report to “online street corners run by drug dealers.” The report found that nearly 90 percent of all pharmacy ads appearing on Bing’s sponsored search engine results were illegal pharmacies, with some offering controlled and addictive substances without a prescription, and others located in India or linked to the Russian mob.
KnujOn, a spam watchdog organization and LegitScript, which offers a service to verify online pharmacies, prepared the 58-page report. Many search engines, including Bing, Google and Yahoo verify the legitimacy of online pharmacies by using PharmacyChecker, but that safeguard is obviously not sufficient by itself.
Tod Cooperman, president of PharmacyChecker, was unable to explain how unapproved and illegal online pharmacies were able to bypass the PharmacyChecker program.
Nearly 90 percent of Bing’s pharmacy ads are “rogue” Internet pharmacies that violate U.S. federal and state laws, as well as Microsoft’s stated policies. The report investigated 69 drug advertisers and only seven were verified as legitimate. The remaining 62 online pharmacies didn’t require a prescription, did not have a U.S. address or offered to ship drugs from outside of the U.S., all of which are illegal.
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) requires companies to have a valid pharmacy license, a U.S. location and to only dispense medicine with a valid prescription. Certain prescriptions also require a face-to-face relationship between the doctor issuing the prescription and the patient.
The two companies conducting the study investigated 10 online pharmacies in greater detail and even purchased drugs without a prescription from India, which tested as counterfeit. Some of the illegal overseas pharmacy ads on Bing, displayed a U.S. address, but then redirected the user to an illegal foreign site located in Russia or India.
Microsoft’s sponsoring of illegal online pharmaceutical ads, may also contribute to organized crime and funding for terrorist organizations. Internet pharmacies linked to the Russian mafia and Chinese triads have been investigated for funding illegal activity and warfare. The Russian mob operates thousands of fake online pharmacies, often dealing in dangerous counterfeit drugs, which could cause harm and even kill people.
The illegal rogue pharmacies also contribute to the growing problem in this country of prescription drug abuse. Last year, letters were sent to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft about the problem of rogue pharmacy ads on their search engines, with only Microsoft eventually responding, saying the company would look into the issue.
The report notes that Microsoft has the ability to ensure that its sponsored ads meet certain criteria, but since responding to the letter, nothing has changed. Bing’s search engine continues to be dominated by illegal sponsored pharmacy ads. Each time a user clicks on a sponsored rogue pharmacy ad, Microsoft receives revenue.
The authors of the report say they made their investigation of Microsoft Bing’s practices public to draw attention to the rogue pharmacy problem to force Microsoft’s hand to stop running the illegal ads.
Comments
9 Responses to “Bing’s Illegal Rogue Pharmacy Ads: “Online Street Corners””
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I agree, there are allot of pharmacy websites on Bing (MSN) that do link to many rogue internet pharmacies selling controlled substances online.
In order to advertise on Bing, Yahoo, and Google every online pharmacy or every pharmacy affiliate website has to get approved by PharmacyChecker.com…just like we do and if they don’t abide by their rules and regulations (sell controlled substances or don’t require an original prescription) then they will get removed.
It is hard even for Pharmacy Checker to police everything so that is why I encourage everyone to contact PharmacyChecker and report any bad sites that are advertising on Bing, Yahoo, and Google that sell controlled substances without a prescription so they can get removed ASAP.
[...] engines, which give people easy access to medications that have to be carefully regulated. An earlier report indicates Microsoft’s search engine now used by Yahoo was also profiting from illegal online [...]
nice report about online pharmacy
thank you
Good article about online pharmacy. PharmacyChecker great resource on the net where we can look about regulated drugs and find more info about online pharmacy
In order to advertise on Bing, Yahoo, and Google every online pharmacy or every pharmacy affiliate website has to get approved by PharmacyChecker.com…just like we do and if they don’t abide by their rules and regulations (sell controlled substances or don’t require an original prescription) then they will get removed.
There are still other online pharmacy scam sites that take orders and then mail the unsuspecting customer counterfeit medication or medication that has been cut or is of low quality and made in unsanitary pharmaceutical labs. Either way, they are stealing your hard-earned dollars.
Is there a list of illigal pharmacies on-line? Thank you
I agree, there are allot of pharmacy websites on Bing (MSN) that do link to many rogue internet pharmacies selling controlled substances online.
As a Pharma Affiliate I would love to participate in this program and enjoy the online income.