Fourteen search engines and content providers have been targeted in a lawsuit filed in California on 3 August, accusing them of advertising Internet gambling businesses, which are illegal in California if they are unlicensed. The suit, brought by Californian citizens Mario Cisneros and Michael Voight, claims that Yahoo and Google, among others, actively advertise and facilitate illegal Internet gambling despite the illegal nature of unlicensed Internet gambling in California, and the United States in general.
Beside Google and Yahoo, the suit accuses Overture, Ask Jeeves, Terra Lycos, CNET Networks and others of accepting payment for producing ads and links for illegal gambling web sites, based on search terms such as “illegal gambling”, “Internet gambling” and “California gambling”. The suit seeks a directive against the ads, restitution and accounting for all illegal gambling proceeds received.
