You might have seen one of these and we just hope that you’re not “unlucky” enough to click on one of them. Internet ads offering free trials on stuff such as teeth whiteners and colon cleansers might just not be free after all.
These companies are supposed to send you free trial packages of products in exchange for your credit card info. However, if you don’t opt out or cancel the product, you might get billed for it. In some cases, you might not even get the actual product.
A warning has been issued by the FTC, Visa and Better Business Bureau. VISA says that 30% of online consumers have been victimized by such promotions.
As a word of caution, don’t give just any website your financial information. Check with the Better Business Bureau first if the company is legit. And be wary of any too-good-to-be-true deals.
Source: CNN
Good point – many of the free trial products aren’t really “free”. Many follow the tried and tested old model of setting up a monthly payment, and it’s only free if you cancel. They make the small print really small, and make it somewhat difficult, as far as they can stretch, for you to escape. The trouble with many of these scams is that they are “barely legal” and so, are more difficult to get shut down.
It’s worth bearing in mind that although the BBB is good, not all businesses that are good, are BBB members.
There are a lot of blogs using and praising Text Link Ads. But I have experienced some cons of their system. First of all, they seem to be picky about which sites they accept. They didn’t accept Speeltijd website, although it has more visitors than this blog. And secondly, they choose the price for the links on your site, and you can not directly influence it.