• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, May 11, 2011

Google late Tuesday disclosed that it has set aside $500 million during the first quarter of 2011 as potential funds to be used to resolve Justice Department probe into "the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers." Google did not disclose the nature of the investigation, nor the reason for the amount of the reserve or how it might be used, but said it did not expect it to have a "material adverse effect" on its financial performance or business operations going forward.

In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, Google noted that it is involved in a number of "claims, suits, government investigations and proceedings," and that it records provisions for liabilities, "when we believe that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred, and the amount can be reasonably estimated."

Given its dominant position in online search and advertising markets, Google is constantly under fire from a variety of private litigation and regulatory challenges that represent potential financial liabilities to its shareholders. Google did not comment on the nature of the Justice Department probe, but as part of its SEC filing, noted the following boilerplate:

"We are also regularly involved in other claims, suits, government investigations, and proceedings arising from the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to intellectual property claims, competition and antitrust matters, privacy matters, tax matters, labor and employment claims, commercial claims, as well as actions involving content generated by our users and other matters."