The operators of a phony doctor certification program have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges over misleading consumers. SmartClick Media also doing business as Doctor Trusted, and its owner Robert Vozdecky, who was also using a pseudonym Bill Anderson, conducted a “Doctor Trusted” scheme that made bogus claims that the products sold on websites with … Read more
On September 15, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission will host a public workshop to examine and evaluate disclosures that marketers make to consumers about advertising claims and privacy practices. Regulators have spent considerable resources addressing the issues of disclosures in recent years. From weight loss products to education opportunities, the FTC continues to emphasize that … Read more
According to Jessica Rich, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, marketers Colby Fox and Christopher Reinhold have been scamming customers for some years by luring consumers to click on ads that went to fake news sites (flogs or farticles). The FTC called it a “massive spam operation” that linked to “Fake News … Read more
Five Federal Enforcement Actions that Changed the Online Industry In the last five years the marketing industry has been hit with a lot of lawsuits that have drastically changed the industry. Gone are the days of affiliate networks making bad decisions to promote less-than legitl offers – or at least an understanding that doing illegal … Read more
The UK based SEO company, Total SEO & Marketing Ltd, has been charged with violations to consumer law for posting more than 800 fake reviews online between 2014 and 2015. This is in violation of consumer protection laws in the UK, which are similar to laws and regulations in place in the US. Fake reviews … Read more
Jeremy Johnson is dreaming of the jury’s verdict every night…wishing for a “Not Guilty” verdict. But what’s the probability of a criminal defendant actually beating the FEDs? The US Department of Justice reported a 93% conviction rate in 2012 for all criminal defendants. The odds are clearly stacked against defendants. In this case, Jeremy Johnson … Read more
The FTC has been trying to crack down on medical related apps over the past year, with quite a bit of success. They have fined and helped shut down several apps that claimed to be able to do things such as detect skin cancer. Several months ago they charged the makers of UltimEyes with deceptive … Read more
$75 Billion is lost per year in ad fraud/waste. We define “lost” as: spent with no possibility of seeing any return. The digital marketing industry is worth $155 Billion annually, and growing fast. With $75 Billion lost, this means that nearly half of that is wasted on fraudsters and extremely low quality media buy platforms. … Read more
The FTC has just reached a settlement with Butterfly Labs in a case dating back to 2014. Butterfly labs is a Bitcoin mining firm that sells hardware designed specifically for mining. The FTC stepped in after the company sold millions of dollars worth of hardware that they either failed to deliver or delivered after extensive … Read more
John Ayers and LeapLab and Leads Company have reached an official settlement with the FTC regarding their legal trouble related to intentionally acquiring and selling sensitive information connected to Loan Applications. The statement was released by the FTC that confirmed that the defendants were ordered by the federal courts to stop selling or transferring all … Read more
Just as the world of mobile advertising and marketing is starting to really focus on the ‘Internet of Things’ and how they can best use it to display ads and drive sales, the FTC is issuing a fairly serious warning. Edith Ramirez, the FTC chairwoman, commented at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las … Read more
Performance Marketing Insider has learned that the FTC has alerted at least half-a-dozen networks that they are in the target for possible enforcement actions. These networks have received what are called “civil investigative demands” which have asked networks to provide information about their practices and specific affiliates they are doing business with. According to insiders, … Read more
Bloggers face issues and controversy with revenue generation strategies like blogging for pay, sponsored posts, paid reviews, and selling links. How does this go over with the FTC, Google, and blog readership?
Beware the Ides of March. This saying, made famous by William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, was a warming to Caesar that he was about to be stabbed (33 times!) and by a man he considered a friend. Today my friends, is the Ides of March. A dismissed employee of IntegraClick, ClickBooth parent company, Robert McAfee, … Read more