UK's Media Corp surges as Google lifts penalty

LONDON, UK: British Internet advertising firm Media Corporation said Google Inc had lifted a penalty that hurt its rankings in Internet search results, resulting in lower visitor numbers at two of its Web sites.

Shares in Media Corp were up 35.5 percent at 3.15 pence by 0704 GMT meaning that the stock has now trebled over the last week. The sites affected by the penalty were www.gambling.com and www.creditcardexpert.co.uk, the company said.

"The removal of this penalty, which was imposed for unknown reasons, together with the re-launch of Gambling.com should result in a marked improvement in the revenue generated through these websites," Media Corp said in a statement on Monday.

The gross margin on www.gambling.com had more than halved to 410,000 pounds from over 1 million pounds in 2007 following the penalty, the company said.

"The removal of the Google penalty is a hugely significant event for Media Corp and should sharply increase the revenues derived from these two websites," Chief Executive Justin Drummond said in a statement.

Shares in Media Corp more than doubled last week after it acquired online gaming firm Purple Lounge and said On-e Media Limited would help it relaunch www.gambling.com.