Spitzer Pulls Ad’s Link to AIG

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday pulled a political ad that ran on Google Inc.’s website when Web searchers typed in AIG, the abbreviation for American International Group Inc., a prosecutorial target of the crime-busting gubernatorial candidate.

For part of Wednesday, Google users who typed AIG as the search keyword were given results that included an ad that read “Spitzer for NY Governor.” People who clicked on that ad were sent to www.spitzer 2006.com.

“It wasn’t appropriate, and as soon as Mr. Spitzer found out about it, he had it removed it as soon as possible,” said Darren Dopp, a spokesman for the attorney general.

Dopp also said it appeared that a relatively low-level campaign staffer responsible for promoting Spitzer’s campaign website made a mistake when getting the ad placed on Google’s site.

Google, the No. 1 Web search engine, declined to provide information about the advertiser.

Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission for months have been investigating the insurance giant’s accounting, especially regarding reinsurance deals.