Yahoo’s recently purchased Right Media seems to be allowing deceptive ads to publishers using the inventory.  Whether they’re graphic ads depicting Windows errors, or “free offer” ads that are misconceiving, Yahoo seems to be looking the other way.

According to PC World, Yahoo Right Media’s Direct Media Exchange gives publishers the option of running or blocking several different types of ads, based on their “deceptiveness.”  The service also categorizes deceptive ads by language, letting publishers filter out “deceptive or questionably realistic offers,” or free offers that don’t disclose what a consumer might have to do to qualify.  In fact, these “free with no disclosure language” ads can make up close to 18 percent of Right Media’s ad inventory at certain times.

Yahoo most likely allows these types of advertisements because they’re what publishers are looking for.  These types of ads work better than most because of their deceptive nature, and publishers will pay more for it.  Maybe looking the other way is Yahoo’s attempt to one-up Google’s dominance in the online advertising market.  Right Media argues that it is simply a technology offering, designed to create an open marketplace for advertisers and publishers. “The Exchange doesn’t make a judgment on that type of ad category,” said Yahoo spokeswoman Kristen Wareham, via e-mail. “It’s up to the publisher to select the type of ad that works on their page.”

Does this violate the laws against deceptive advertising?  Government officials charged with enforcing deceptive advertising say that while the ads on Direct Media Exchange may be dubious in nature, they may not be bad enough to warrant an enforcement action.  In other words, when done online the rules are a bit looser.  “Any type of advertisement that is likely to deceive consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances could be deceptive,” said Rick Quaresima, an assistant director in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Advertising Practices.  “We’re certainly more concerned with the cases of deceptive advertising that could cause tangible consumer harm or consumer injury. That would be where we would prioritize our enforcement efforts.”

Either way, these types of advertisements are always going to be prevalent on the Internet.  If Yahoo were to stop allowing them, publishers would still find methods to serve them themselves.  By allowing publishers to filter them out, Yahoo seems to have done all they can, but it’s highly unlikely that Yahoo would want to cut out such a profitable advertising inventory.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, November 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm under Advertising, Yahoo!.

Read more entries by Justin Montgomery.
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