What may have seemed like a smart marketing strategy at the time – using phony news websites to sell products – has six online marketers of acai berry supplements and other weight-loss products paying big time.
They got into trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for creating phony news websites featuring a “reporter’s” first-hand experience of losing weight with no change in diet or exercise by using a supplement or other weight-loss product. The fake websites typically include links to other websites where consumers can purchase the products or sign up for “free trials.” The latter always comes at a cost to the consumer – usually unauthorized monthly charges on a credit card.
As part of the FTC’s ongoing crackdown on bogus health claims, the online affiliate marketers – all of whom have sizeable financial judgments against them – will be required to make clear when their commercial messages are advertisements rather than objective journalism.
Have you been taken in by a phony news website?
