Google Should Ban Fake Download Ads
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 10/6/2015 1:00:00 AM
The web is full of sleaze. Google is no exception.
I hate when I see fraud on the Internet, especially when it comes from trusted sources. At least when you see something suspicious on an obscure site, you think twice before clicking, but I've noticed a growing trend of "Fake Links" and "Fake Download" buttons on some very well known sites, and worst thing is that it's Google's fault for allowing it.
Case in point, I often recommend Open Office to clients who need to create occasional documents and spreadsheets. It's a popular Open Source alternative to Microsoft Office. As soon as you click the download link, it takes you to a page on another well known site that hosts Open Source projects.
The trouble is, the download page has a tiny sentence that says the download will start shortly, however, that tiny sentence is surrounded by at least 5 or more Google Ads, and most of the ads are FAKE DOWNLOAD ads with giant fonts saying things like "START DOWNLOAD". These are all tricks designed to make you accidentally click on them and download something entirely different.
These sites are not run by Google, but since they run ads through Google's AdSense / AdWords platform, Google is responsible for the ads that run on the site. Since they manage ads on millions of sites, Google uses an automated ad selection system that determines which ads show up.
A big portion of Google's ad selection formula is fitting ads with the content, so when the page has something to do with downloading something, there's a good chance a fake download ad will appear on the page. The fact that the person visiting the page is specifically trying to download something and there's an ad there that says "START DOWNLOAD" in a big font means that there's a good chance fake download ads will get (accidental) clicks, making the problem even bigger.
Google doesn't seem motivated to ban these kinds of fake download ads, because they earn money from them.
Whatever happened to their original company motto "Do no evil"? Even if some of the products are legitimate, most of the clicks on these ads are accidental, and both Google and the sites running these ads are taking advantage of these mistakes.
Another fake ad they allow are arrows pointing right that are often shown above or below slideshows that make you think you're moving to the next slide.
While it's not always easy to police the position of ads on sites, they should know that an ad that prominently shows a big arrow, or one that says "START DOWNLOAD" are designed to trick people. Shame on you Google.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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