By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: April 3, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration ordered 14 drug makers to stop using what it called misleading ads on Internet search engines. The agency faulted the companies for failing to identify product names and side effects in sponsored search results, according to its Web site.
Companies and interest groups pay search engine operators like Google to post links to their Web sites in a sidebar after someone types in a related search term. With drug makers, the links usually include a headline and blurb about the relevant medical condition or product. The companies receiving letters were Bayer, Biogen Idec, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cephalon, Eli Lilly, Forest Laboratories, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/business/04bizbriefs-14DRUGMAKERS_BRF.html?ref=business