Google Reveals Federal Advertising Probe

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Google(GOOG) disclosed Tuesday that it's the subject of federal investigation of advertising practices in the Form 10-Q filing for its fiscal first quarter.

The online search giant revealed it recorded a charge of $500 million related to the "potential resolution of Department of Justice investigation" in the latest quarter, an item that wasn't reflected in the press release issued on April 14.

In its filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google said it "accrued" the $500 million in May in connection with the potential resolution of the probe, which it described as an investigation "into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers."

The stock closed Tuesday's regular session at $542.66, up less than 1%. The shares are down 9.5%, however, since the start of 2011, and have pulled back 15% since hitting a 52-week high of $642.96 on Jan. 19.

Google, which missed Wall Street's consensus expectations for both earnings and revenue when it reported its first-quarter results on April 14, said in the filing it doesn't expect the probe to have a significant impact going forward.

"Although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of this matter, we believe it will not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows," the company stated in the filing.

--Written by Michael Baron in New York.

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