False and Deceptive Ads
Ben Edelman, the young HBS prof who has build a reputation for revealing unscrupulous online advertising practices, has a new article fingering Yahoo’s Right Media for featuring “widespread ads exactly designed to deceive.” He mentions deceptive ads that tell viewers that someone has a crush on them, that they have won something, that their computer has systems problem, etc.–yet all are bogus and intended to attract a click that inevitably leads to another page, laced in subterfuge, that attempts to monetize the unwitting visitor.
These practices are in clear violation of FTC regulations. However, those regulations are enforced with the consistency of speed limits. Not surprisingly, companies continue to transgress with few, if any, consequences. Not surprisingly, these practices are extremely profitable. Not surprisingly, they give the online performance-based marketing sector a bad name.
