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Antitrust Law

: Antitrust and Distribution Law Blog

Websites Report FTC Crack Down On Advertisements That Look Like Fake News Stories While Linking To Advertisements That Look Like Fake News Stories

By Jason Hicks, Esq.

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Fox News reports that the FTC is cracking down on websites falsely advertising acai berry weight-loss pills. The FTC says the websites are deceiving consumers by emulating real news organizations.

If you have not seen these ads, they look like investigative reporting and often contain tantalizing headlines such as "The HCA Diet Exposed: Miracle Diet or Scam" or "Acai Berry Diet UNCOVERED." For an example, click here.

Dow Jones has a similar story.

The funny thing about the Fox News story is that many of the advertisements on the Fox News website are written in a way that suggests they are news stories, instead of advertisements. For example, the headlines for the advertisements on the Fox News article read: "Is it a scam? We investigated work at home jobs and what we found may shock you!" and "Mom discovers $9 car insurance trick. Auto insurers are scared you will learn this too."

Not to be outdone, the Dow Jones article contains paid-advertising links to the very same Acai Berry websites that are being investigated by the FTC.

Full post as published by Antitrust and Distribution Law Blog on April 19, 2011 (boomark / email).