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Do those fake news article landing pages actually work???

by ChadOath
20 replies
You know the ones I'm talking about. "Breaking News: Mother makes $347/day..." then it goes on to talk about the program she "uses". They always seem to have some Youtube video of a news show talking about home jobs in a broad sense.

I see these EVERYWHERE. I would assume they work just because it seems like a lot of people are using them. But it could just be a case of people following based on perception.

Does anyone have any experience using this marketing tactic? Or do you know anyone who has? I'm genuinely curious about the results vs the more traditional landing pages.
#article #fake #landing #news #pages #work
  • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
    Originally Posted by laurenswuyts View Post

    I think it's a very effective way. Cause people always believe newspaper faster then other things. So I think it's a great way to use.
    The average person can't tell that it's fake, especially when all of the navigation at the top is just a picture instead of actual links?
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Yes, they work. They also work in print magazines. I'm sure that you have seen ads that seem to blend right in with the actual copy of the magazines, except they say "Advertisement" in small letters across the top.
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    • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      Yes, they work. They also work in print magazines. I'm sure that you have seen ads that seem to blend right in with the actual copy of the magazines, except they say "Advertisement" in small letters across the top.
      Ah...they used to have ads like that in USA Today too. I haven't read one in a while though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Motion
    They convert like crazy.

    A lot of the big affiliate networks are banning the use of them.
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    • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
      Originally Posted by Joe Motion View Post

      They convert like crazy.

      A lot of the big affiliate networks are banning the use of them.
      Do you have any more details as to why? Honestly, I was thinking about trying one, but not if I'm going to get kicked off some of my CPA networks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe Motion
        Originally Posted by ChadOath View Post

        Do you have any more details as to why? Honestly, I was thinking about trying one, but not if I'm going to get kicked off some of my CPA networks.
        They're slightly dishonest... that's why!
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        • Profile picture of the author Rydel23
          I imagine they work quite well. I've wanted to believe them many times, but since I know they're all just trying to make the money they're talking about with the site I move along.

          I think you have to question the ethics behind such a design. Some people have no problem with it though I suppose.
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        • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
          Originally Posted by Joe Motion View Post

          They're slightly dishonest... that's why!
          True. But so are like 99% of all landing pages with fake reviews/testimonials/endorsements/etc. I wonder why CPA networks singled these out.

          I'm really tempted to try one if conversions are that much better than a typical pre-sell. I wonder if Clickbank has banned them.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    They obviously work, otherwise you'd not see them everywhere on the internet. Also, it looks like as long as there is some tiny disclaimer statement somewhere on the site that states it is an advertisement, then they're not breaking any laws (but many of the reputable CPA networks do NOT allow using them as landing pages for offers).
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  • Profile picture of the author Ruth P
    Sadly I'm sure they do work.

    In fact someone told me recently how he'd seen this system for making money online, on Google, someone was making X per day on it and it was great etc. etc. They were basically describing this landing page to me and I had to say that unfortunately it's a well known scam and those ads are fake. They had no idea
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Ruth P View Post

      Sadly I'm sure they do work.

      In fact someone told me recently how he'd seen this system for making money online, on Google, someone was making X per day on it and it was great etc. etc. They were basically describing this landing page to me and I had to say that unfortunately it's a well known scam and those ads are fake. They had no idea
      Ruth, the sad fact is that they actually work amazingly well, especially on gullible newbies who want to believe it's real. This is why many of the reputable CPA networks have already outlawed the use of such landing pages, but there are are some marketers who are using nefarious techniques to fly under the radar of said networks (thus avoiding detection).

      Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
      Originally Posted by Ruth P View Post

      Sadly I'm sure they do work.

      In fact someone told me recently how he'd seen this system for making money online, on Google, someone was making X per day on it and it was great etc. etc. They were basically describing this landing page to me and I had to say that unfortunately it's a well known scam and those ads are fake. They had no idea
      Haha. Funny and sad at the same time.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
    I just learned that the nickname for them is "farticles"...fake articles. lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author jtie
    The real trick is to get a Google News approved site and create a post modelled on one of these pages. I was clocking >25% conversions until my site got banned from Google News.
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    • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
      Originally Posted by jtie View Post

      The real trick is to get a Google News approved site and create a post modelled on one of these pages. I was clocking >25% conversions until my site got banned from Google News.
      WOW. I'm assuming the traffic was free too...
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    • Profile picture of the author Rydel23
      Originally Posted by jtie View Post

      The real trick is to get a Google News approved site and create a post modelled on one of these pages. I was clocking >25% conversions until my site got banned from Google News.
      Is the ban really worth it in this case?
      Did the ban effect your numbers in Google search by any chance?
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      • Profile picture of the author ChadOath
        Originally Posted by Rydel23 View Post

        Is the ban really worth it in this case?
        Did the ban effect your numbers in Google search by any chance?
        I guess it depends on the money made really. No ban is permanent, IMO.

        There's a guy at another board I go to who consistently gets banned from Google Adwords, then files for a new DBA name, gets a new credit card, gets a new domain, etc then resubmits his site. Wash, rinse, repeat.

        It's in the "home jobs" and "make money online" field, where Google continually cleans house and bans a lot of the accounts for violation of their terms. In other words, they're actually eliminating his competition and driving the CPC way down.

        So when he does get back up and running, his ROI is phenomenal for the time his ads stay active.
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      • Profile picture of the author jtie
        Originally Posted by Rydel23 View Post

        Is the ban really worth it in this case?
        Did the ban effect your numbers in Google search by any chance?
        It was google news so my traffic tanked completely, the site was only 2 months old and had very little in the way of ranking. Still made a few k and flipped the site privately for a few more so it was definately worth it.

        And yes it was ban worthy, Google News is very strict.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by ChadOath View Post

          True. But so are like 99% of all landing pages with fake reviews/testimonials/endorsements/etc. I wonder why CPA networks singled these out.

          I'm really tempted to try one if conversions are that much better than a typical pre-sell. I wonder if Clickbank has banned them.
          My best guess is that, tiny disclaimer or not, the FTC might have something to say about deceptive advertising. Better to disallow a single tactic as a preemptive measure than to have some public official decide your company should be made an example of.

          One of the tricks is localization. No matter where you are, the woman in the success story is local to your ISP. So if my ISP is in Tampa and yours is in Buffalo, I'll be reading about "Carol from Tampa" and you'll read about "Carol from Buffalo"...

          As a side note, an article in Wired a couple of years ago pointed to sites like this as one big reason .info domains had problems ranking at the time. Part of the footprint of these splogs was a .info because you could get one for ~$2 for the first year.

          From other anecdotal evidence, there are enough legit .info sites that it's no longer an automatic negative.
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    Like any other trick, the will likely work for awhile till most people catch on. I kind of like the idea of them but it is inherently not news in that there is a bias FOR or AGAINST the product (although most news stations seem to follow this format ala MSNBC).
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    I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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