FTC reps — likely in response to a widely shared AdAge article suggesting the agency’s crackdown on flogs and farticles wasn’t doing much — sat down with Paul Farhi of The Washington Post to explain the 10 operations (PDF) it swept back in April, focusing on the belly ad scam in particular and why it spread to even the most premium content depots (MSNBC.com? CNN.com? My lord!) of the worldwide web via affiliate marketers (which WaPo almost describes as alien-like creatures).
Basically, affiliates used ads with the animated shrinking belly and pretty (fake) investigative reporters to lure browsers to websites disguised as legitimate news depots — i.e., they had no big print that saying “This is an advertisement.” These were/are filled with fake statements from real news depots and unsubstantiated benefits, as well as links to sketchy stores where you can buy miracle diet products.
It’s nothing new – a source recently suggested to me that the farticle has been ingrained in the affiliate model for a long, long time.
Via Don’t Just Blame Affiliates for Belly Fat Ads
