And Remember, Friends Don't Let Friends Gamble Online

When it comes to online gambling, the house never loses. The White House, that is.

Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have agreed to fork over millions of dollars to settle allegations that they sold ads promoting illegal online gambling. Without admitting or denying liability, the three companies agreed to forfeit a collective $31.5 million in advertising revenue and to underwrite public-service campaigns warning that online gambling is illegal. Of the three, Microsoft has the biggest forfeiture and fine, totaling $21 million. Of that, $4.5 million will go the government, $7.5 million to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and $9 million to a PSA campaign. Yahoo’s on the hook for $7.5 million–$3 million to the government and $4.5 million to another PSA campaign. Google’s tab is just $3 million.

“These sums add to the over $40 million in forfeitures and back taxes this office has already recovered in recent years from operators of these remote-control illegal gambling enterprises,” U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway of the Eastern District of Missouri said in a statement. “Honest taxpayers and gambling industry personnel who do follow the law suffer from those who promote illegal online behavior.”