The Underbelly of Marketing and Advertising: Dark Patterns and Made-for-Advertising Websites from The SUM
Every industry has bad apples. Humanity is inevitably flawed, right, or at the very least; humanity is its own biggest critic.
Sleazy marketers and advertisers who blur the lines between moral and immoral, manipulative and nonmanipulative, trustworthy and untrustworthy don't help the case of redemption for us modern-day capitalists.
Deceptive lead generation tactics may have started in the '60s and '70s on used car lots, the stereotype being reinforced by Kurt Russell in 1980 with the release of Used Cars at movie theaters across the country. Or maybe the deception started with nomadic tinkers selling snake oils and wares from horse-drawn wagons in medieval Europe as they roamed the countryside.
Whenever it started, the perverse need to deceive consumers to sell a product—or to sell more of that product—is alive and well, perhaps thriving in 2023. The digital ecosystem spiderwebbing throughout the global village by way of the Internet, is only limited by consumer connectivity and creates an opportunity for the profit-hungry profiteer.
The takeaway is don't be a scumbag.
Don't promote dark patterns. Be aware of where you're paid media is landing. Stay educated and do your research.
Sometimes, that's all you can do.
In this newsletter, you'll find:
Made-for-Advertising (MFA) Websites: Explained.
If you’re an advertiser, don’t play games with MFAs. ?? And no, this isn’t about multi-factor authentication, but it can play into security.
Here's an example of a made-for-advertising website.
Let’s say you’re browsing the internet looking for a recipe, some juicy celebrity gossip, or a best-of list for a kitchen appliance. You click a link, and it brings you to a website with “towering banner ads,” and it’s hard to find the content you’re seeking—especially on a mobile device. You’re overwhelmed by the “commercial chaos” of pop-up windows and unrelenting video ads using dark patterns to trap you, so you close out the window.
No one wants to deal with scammy, spammy experiences. However, one accidental click, and you're thrown into a death spiral of clickbait.
If you're a marketer and doing the dance with MFAs, you may not be a “bad actor” in the cybersecurity sense, but you’re inflating superficial goals without ever creating actual business outcomes. It's either purposeful or a general lack of awareness. As AdExchanger put it, "The platform algorithms have become even less transparent over time." So, if you're not doing your due diligence, you'll impress the C-suite (or a client) for a few quarters, maybe a few years, but it's hollow traffic. When nothing is converting, ROI stagnates.
If you think your moral compass as an advertiser is intact and you do your best to prevent deceptive practices, you could still contribute to the proliferation of MFAs if you're not watching and auditing the activity of your display ads.
How to Prevent Your Ads from Hitting MFA Sites
Digital advertisers who keep fueling the beast by seeking low-cost, low-quality CPC campaigns continue to increase the rise of junk sites stealing real impressions from real companies. Your best defense as a marketer or advertiser is to be educated, know your field, and do not simply go through the motions to collect your paycheck.
Still, it's not completely the fault of the marketer or advertiser...
MIT Technology Review found that 90% of the ads from major brands found on AI-generated news sites were served?by Google. That's ugly, but who is really holding Google accountable?
The best smell test and tip is if there’s no engagement and no conversions on a PPC campaign, but you have hundreds of thousands of impressions... typically, that means something is rotten in Denmark. As an expert in your field, your hackles should go up, and you should immediately end the ad campaign.
If you really want to dive into the chaos of internet filth and programmatic advertising, go read the linked MIT Technology Review blog. You can take a Xanax beforehand if you just re-upped some digital ads.
Dark Patterns, the FTC, and Amazon Prime
Dark patterns are back in the headlines. ?? Recently, the FTC accused Amazon Prime of using manipulative trickery, including:
The cancellation process is also difficult to navigate and designed to deter consumers from ending their Prime subscription, the FTC alleged. Amazon used an internal term called “Iliad” to describe the process, referencing Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War, the agency said, citing a report by?Insider. — CNBC
No Company is Too Big for Dark Patterns
This lawsuit comes on the heels of a $245 million FTC fine back in December for a dark pattern violation by Epic Games .
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Sometimes, it’s laziness, lack of oversight, poor leadership, or a combination of factors. Other times, it’s intentional, backed by internal pressure to increase revenue quarter after quarter.
Word Count and Google Search Rankings
If word count is not a ranking factor on Google, why do SEO consultants always recommend watching your word count…?
The simple answer is you have a better chance to fully explain the subject matter with lengthier content. You can cut out filler sentences and paragraphs during the editing process if they’re irrelevant or poorly executed.
Keep 5 things in mind for a better SEO rank:
300 words or less for a blog entry or web copy isn’t recommended because it’s unlikely you’ll thoroughly cover the topic. Sometimes, it’s short and sweet, but it’s rare to be so concise.
That doesn’t mean hopping on ChatGPT and letting generative AI fill in the gaps with filler copy. It’s an effort in critical thinking, so think critically and do the work.
Overcommunication Isn't a Bad Thing, Even If You Start to Feel Annoying
Why social media managers need to over-communicate.
Here are 4 reasons from Jess Smith. ??
1. “Social media isn’t about you,” so SMMs need thick skin and cannot take criticism personally. Social is all about working together as a team with transparency and open communication.
2. “Decision-makers need visibility” (i.e. a high-level understanding of how social media management works and what the strategy is, so they can be advocates).
3. “It builds credibility.” Educating your organization on how much time it takes to create social content is huge because it’s easy to assume you can schedule 90-days of content between lunch and EOD.
4. “It allows you to shape the why” and the intention behind the social post before it’s out in the wild.
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The SUM covers news and insights related to business, marketing, copywriting, advertising, branding, digital best practices, social media, and work-life balance. Subscribe for biweekly updates—or follow?Zach Burger?for more content.