As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, clickbait ads are everywhere. They are the spam of the World Wide Web, unwanted intrusions into your browsing experience, and like spam, the vast majority of these ads are deceptive and lead to spurious or borderline criminal offers.
What’s that “New Rule?”
If you click that ad, you are taken to http://www.easy-autoquotes.com/, which looks like a respectable financial advice website:
And what’s that “one rule?”
“Don’t even think about getting insurance without first comparing discounted quotes from an unbiased source.”
The “unbiased source” they want you to visit is the Easy Auto Quotes™ official site, which deceptively redirects you to
"http://provide-savings.com,"
which turns out to be a scummy outfit which, like LowerMyBills will gather your information including sensitive personal data and sell it to anyone who waves money in their faces. You won’t get a quote from them, but you will be inundated by calls and emails not only from competing auto insurance agencies, and countless other disreputable marketers hawking everything under the sun. The only way you’ll be able to stem the tide is move, cancel your credit cards, change your email address, get a new phone number, and walk widdershins around a rotting stump at midnight while looking at the new moon over your left shoulder.
Have a look at the disclaimer at the very bottom of their page, which most people will never see, and which is hard to read even if you get there:
Here it is in plain text:
Disclaimer and Consumer Information.
THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE
THIS SITE GETS PAID FOR CLICKS OR SALES PRODUCED FROM CONTENT FOUND ON THIS SITE
*We are dedicated to bringing readers valuable information which can help them accomplish their financial and lifestyle goals. Our disclaimer is that this site does receive compensation for product reviews and referrals or purchases made through our links. This page is an advertisement/advertorial. The story depicted here is for demonstration purposes only and everyone’s results may vary. We hope you find our online resource informative and helpful.
This site is in no way affiliated with any news source.
Important information regarding the truthfulness of this article (For our site visitors and the FTC): There have been issues in the online marketing industry with fake advertorials to pitch certain products within the affiliate marketing industry. This site and the owners of this site have never participated in these false advertising practices. Here are a few clarifications points regarding this article: First, as stated at the top of this site, [NOTE: No, it only says “Advertisement’] this is an Advertisment/Advertorial. This site receives compensation for purchases made through our links.
*Clarification of the advertising headline “New Policy in your State”: Some of our website visitors may have visited our site after seeing an ad regarding “New Policy in your State.” This ad then clarifies that certain individuals may receive discounts of up to 50% off car insurance. The newest United States information and insurance tips for lowering your car insurance cost can be found at usa.gov (recently updated October of 2011). The United States federal governments and state governments are constantly looking out for consumers and have published new information on helping consumers lower their car insurance bills. Here’s a specific link regarding the newest usa.gov advice, tips in order to receive lower car insurance rates: http://www.usa.gov/topics/travel/cars/insurance.shtml. In addition to this information, each state and their respective state insurance commissions may have additional recent policy changes which may affect the insurance rates in your area. The specific new discount car insurance policies in your state which are currently helping individuals save up to 50% on car insurance is information that can be found through the insurance comparison site Provide InsuranceTM mentioned in this article. Upon visiting this site you will see the claim that individuals can save up to 50% in their respective states. This is information that we have found to be true. From the article mentioned from usa.gov, we see that the federal government has also given the advice and made the claims that “To get the best coverage at the best price, get several quotes from insurance companies. It may save you hundreds of dollars a year… You may be eligible for a discount based on the number of miles you drive; your age (turning 25 or 50); your good grades if you are a student, your driving record (no moving vehicle violations or accidents in three years); or if you’ve taken a safe-driving course. You might also be able to get discounts if you insure more than one vehicle, insure your vehicle and your home with the same company, have anti-theft devices or have safety features such as air bags or anti-lock brake system.”
*Clarification of the advertising headline “New Rule in (Your State)”. – Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “rule” as “a piece of advice about the best way to do something” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rule). This article aims to advise the public that comparing rates is one of the best ways that you can save money on car insurance. No matter what city, state or zip code you live in you can compare rates and get free quotes. If you truly want to find the best rate and save on car insurance then follow our advice or “rule” to compare rates. Here are links to two surveys which demonstrate the importance of comparing rates and how applying this “rule” in any state, city or zip code may help drivers save 32%. A new survey found that the #1 reason people switch is because they found a cheaper rate. Click Here for Survey. A second survey which analyzed car insurance quotes for 1,000 zip codes across the U.S. found that within a given zip code, rates vary by 154% on average, allowing drivers to find an average of 32% in savings. Click Here For Survey.
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Note that this disclaimer consists largely of weasel words which attempt to justify the deceptive nature of the advertisement; the worst example of this kind of humbuggery I have already shared over at the “Hall of Shame.”
It gets worse. When you visit Provide-Savings, they begin a process which will gather all sorts of PII (Personally-identifying information) which they claim they need to provide you with your requested quote. Take a gander at a selected portion of their “privacy policy.”
In order to provide you with insurance quotes, we collect your personal contact information including name, telephone number, mailing address, email address, gender, birthday and marital status. For home insurance quotes, we also collect details about your home and personal property. For auto insurance quotes, we collect information about your vehicles and drivers and may also collect information about your credit and your existing insurance coverage.
By submitting your e-mail address and/or phone number (as the case may be) via this Site, you authorize us to use that e-mail address and phone number to contact you periodically, via e-mail and manually-dialed and/or auto-dialed telephone calls, concerning (i) your quote requests, (ii) any administrative issue regarding the Site or our services and/or (iii) information or offers that we feel may be of interest to you. We may also send e-mails to you periodically regarding updated quotes. You may opt out of receiving e-mails from us at any time by unsubscribing as set forth in the applicable e-mail.
Additionally, by filling out information on this Site as part of your request for information about insurance policies and quotations, you authorize us to provide that information to various insurance companies, insurance agents and other related third parties that participate in our insurance quote network (collectively “Insurance Providers”). The Insurance Providers may provide your personal information to their insurance carriers, suppliers and other related vendors in order to generate price quotations and information relevant to insurance policies that you have requested
We may share your information with third parties with whom we have promotional or advertising relationships (provided that we are not otherwise restricted from this sharing of information). If you do not want us to share your personal information with these companies, contact us at compliance@adharmonics.com.
We may provide your PII to, or permit access to it by, our subsidiaries, affiliated companies, vendors and/or service providers, such as our ISP or infrastructure hosting companies, for the purpose of processing such information and/or contacting you on our behalf, or where such access is incidental to their providing assistance to us. In such cases, we expect these parties to process such information based on our instructions and in compliance with this privacy policy.
At some point, we may establish subsidiaries or other related companies, or merge with or be acquired by another company. Should that happen, then we may disclose your information to them, in which case we will request that they abide by this Policy. We may also disclose some information to a potential acquirer, although such disclosure would be subject to normal and customary requirements.
We reserve the right to disclose your PII as required by law or when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a court order, legal process or judicial proceeding served on us.
We may work with third party data providers to obtain additional information about you, other drivers on your policy or in your household, and information about your car. By using these data providers, we are able to prefill your questionnaire and save you time. You will still be able to review and edit this information before you submit it.
The TL;DR¹ here is that they have essentially reserved the right to sell your personal information with anyone under the sun.
Ultimately, to be perfectly honest , the advert on the original referring page should look like this:
It goes without saying that you should not even be seeing ads like this. The easiest way to cut down on such things is to install a simple extension, Ad-Block Plus, which quietly and unobtrusively blocks ads like this from ever appearing on your page. It works with Chrome, Mozilla, IE, Opera, and many other browsers.
Be careful out there, and don’t give your information to scumbags.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
¹ Too long; didn’t read
Acc
Playing in the World Game 