Report links Google, Yahoo to Internet piracy sites

Google and Yahoo, two Internet companies that have long cultivated relationships in Hollywood, are nevertheless placing ads on sites that feature pirated movies, TV shows and music, a new report says.

USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab ranked Google and Yahoo among the top 10 advertising networks that support major piracy sites around the world, based on the lab's analysis of online ads that receive the most copyright infringement notices. Google took issue with the report's findings, calling its conclusion "mistaken." Yahoo did not respond to requests seeking comment. The report is the first installment of a monthly update that Innovation Lab Director Jonathan Taplin hopes major brands will use to inform their decisions about online ad spending and steer dollars away from sites that exploit film, television and music.