Most countries have rules and regulations to protect consumers from misleading advertisements. The general tone is usually the same: Don’t mislead people.

What’s the only thing worse than a horrible distracting attention seeking ad? The fake user interface ad.

The image on the right is the non-blinking version of an ad that currently appears regularly on Facebook. Not only does it mislead the user with the ad’s text (”999.999th visitor”) but it also presents the less web savvy user with a trap: click on the “close” button in the top right corner and instead of “closing” anything, the user is taken straight to the advertised site.

This ad manages to be doubly misleading; both by its content and its interface.

Anyone unlucky enough to fall for the con is taken to Freelotto:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WON! YOU WON! YOU WON! … Claim your cash award now. Where do you want us to send your check?

In all fairness, Freelotto doesn’t hide the fact that they will send you “sponsored email” (spem, anyone?).

The advertisement does however try and trick you into visiting their site with their ad on Facebook, much to the detriment of Facebook’s friendly, cosy and intimate image.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.