Ad company fined $2.9m for spam ads
Online advertiser ValueClick Inc. will pay $2.9 million to settle charges that it made deceptive claims in e-mails and online ads, a government agency said Monday. Westlake Village, Calif.-based ValueClick had said last month it would pay the fine to settle the matter, without admitting that it violated any laws. The company said in February that it took a $2.9 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings to account for the settlement. The fine is the largest ever imposed for a violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission said. The act, approved by Congress in 2003, bars deceptive practices in e-mail advertising. ValueClick’s Hi-Speed Media subsidiary violated the anti-spam act, the FTC alleged, by sending spam e-mail that offered consumers “free gifts” to lure consumers to ValueClick’s Web sites.
Consumers then learned that they had to purchase satellite television subscriptions, obtain car loans or buy other expensive products or services in order to obtain the gifts, the FTC alleged. The FTC also charged that ValueClick did not adequately protect its customers’ sensitive financial information, even though it claimed to encrypt such data. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to create a comprehensive online security program and get third-party assessments of it for 20 years. Shares of ValueClick fell 90 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.57 in midday trading. The company has traded between $16.24 and $36.70 in the past year. I’m quite sure you’ve seen these ads on the internet, many other companies still show them. It should be a common sense to not trust someone offering you a free iPod for your email address though…
Source: AP, Reuters
Comments(11)
good they deserve it
Am i the only one who thinks those bonsai slippers look amazing?
good to see the internet low life getting some payback!!
Good to know, but this won’t stop the majority of spam adds any time soon.
Still though, common sense is needed to people who think they can get free stuff like ipods ect.:P
Seriously i would be happier if the internet was more text and less pictures if it got rid of these adds they make me wanna rip apart any company that does them so annoying. and as I’m writing this right now two adds are flashing above and below me…………. gth valueclick.
I see, so valueclick screws over some dumb consumers and the govt. fines them and keeps the $$. Dang, sounds like the RIAA!!
2.9 million? It’s a drop in the ocean. Advertising companies get much more than that, and this is just one company.
You can always get Adblock plugin for the ads, ’cause they’re not going away…
hahaha! pwned!
What Government Agency Is The Question ?
valueclick sucks this 1 here is legit http://youtube.com/watch?v=WO42s0r2LNU
Lol and they wont share your information data with nobody…