Quadrille - 5:37 pm on Dec 29, 2008 (gmt 0)

Except that there's plenty of evidence that, by and large, when Google knows, they DO take action.

The conspiracy thing would be almost impossible to prove; you'd need solid evidence that at least one human being at Google knew in advance, what was going on, for starters.

With almost all of Google's advertising being 100% automated, you'd not find that easy.

It certainly isn't black and white - but all the precedents say 'don't shoot the messenger' - if you want an exception, you'll need good evidence, and very expensive lawyers. Lazy and/or greedy plaintiffs go for Google rather than the fraudster because Google has money - but they also have good lawyers, so seeing them as a soft touch is a tad unwise.