Advertising is an age-old craft… almost as old as deception. And the two married together often create the modern sales pitch. Here is a list of some of the more commonly used, and most deceptive, advertising terms. … Read entire article »

“We need MacBook users. We’ll give you a MacBook to use/keep. Tell us what you think of it. Current free Mac is the green air.” That’s how the ad goes. Of course there’s another identical ad on the same page that says the current free Mac is the blue one. But it sounds great, doesn’t it? And it’s so generous of these people to pour advertising dollars into Facebook so they can simply give away computers. Right? Well… clicking the ad immediately starts to burst that bubble. On this particular ad today, I was taken to chooseyourcolor.com, and on the home page I now see that the computer is “free with Reward Offer Purchases.” Well, that still sounds easy. Right? … Read entire article »

Click here to take a simple IQ test! Your friend has an IQ of 127, can you do better? You’ve seen the ads. Hopefully you haven’t taken the tests. It’s the IQ test scam, and they hope your ego will force you to take this test while breezing past the small details such as the “terms” on the page. Not a good idea. There are “affiliates” all over the world casting that hook into the ocean, hoping you’ll nibble. This isn’t as new as some of the other scams out there, but its prevalence and tenacity continue. … Read entire article »