Google says shouldn't have allowed Canada drug ads

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc, which has agreed to pay $500 million for accepting ads from Canadian pharmacies to sell in the United States, said in a statement that it should not have allowed the ads in the first place.

The U.S. Justice Department, which announced the settlement on Wednesday said that it represented all of Google's revenues from Canadian pharmacy advertisements and was one of the largest ever in the United States.

Google said in a brief comment that it had banned advertising of prescription drugs in the United States. The announcement was made in a February 2010 blog post.

"However, it's obvious with hindsight that we shouldn't have allowed these ads on Google in the first place," the statement said.