Which? magazine accuses Google of making money out of counterfeit web sites

Which? magazine has accused Google of making millions of pounds from web sites selling counterfeit goods, such as those selling fake Ugg boots, Tiffany jewellery and GHD hair straighteners. It claims that the search engine giant receives up to £5 per click when users click on the sponsored links when those users have searched for the famous branded products. Which? says many of the goods are never delivered or are fake. In its defence, Google claims that it has strict terms and conditions about which adverts are allowed and if anyone breaches those terms – such as by offering counterfeit goods for sale – the adverts would be taken down immediately. It sales it has good systems in place to deal with this. However, GHD is concerned that some of the poor-quality mimic goods available from some sites that pay to be shown when users search under the GHD name are dangerous and could cause electrocution, serious burns and hair damage.