and this is the most interesting part of the story.

From the article:

"The Justice Department contends that Google knew it was potentially violating U.S. law since at least 2003, but didn't take effective action to ban the ads until it mounted an undercover sting operation against the Internet search giant in 2009, the journal said."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/27/us-google-idUSTRE7...