Victoria Police has been left red faced after recruitment ads appeared on the website of bikie club, the Mongols Nation Motorcycle Club.
The banner ads, which were part of a $1.8 million recruitment advertising campaign, were removed today.
Google has been blamed for the embarrassing mishap, with Police Minister Kim Wells reportedly accusing the search giant of not following Vic Police’s provided ad placement guidelines.
Vic Police has ramped up its assault on bikie gangs following the establishment of the Echo Taskforce, a team dedicated to investigating outlaw bikie gangs.
The misplaced recruitment ad generated around 200 clicks at a total cost of $2 before it was removed today, October 14.
“There will be no public money paid for this Google stuff-up,” Wells reportedly said on Fairfax Radio.
The Mongols, also known as the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is not a local club and is headquartered in southern California.
However, the club has achieved a take-over of a the local Finks gang, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, with 90% of its members understood to have swapped to the US club.
