CLICK BAIT
Have you
ever heard of “Click Bait?” If you are
under 65 of course you have. If you are
an older fart like myself, you may not know what it is. Probably I am the last person on Earth to
learn about this scam. I just learned
about click bait, so as a public service I will explain in case others are as
clueless as I am.
Click bait
is when some internet jack-hole sucks you into clicking onto an interesting
story. These jack-holes make money when
you check out the ads on their page.
They further grab you by posting small parts of the story, forcing you
to keep clicking “Next” to see more.
When you try
to click “Next”, their ads pop up all over the place. You think you are clicking “next” instead you
open up an ad for boner pills.(What? The ads are usually based on your previous
searches.) Christian
books.
It is
frustrating as hell trying to read one of these articles, but, dammit they are
interesting.
Today I was
reading an article from “The News Place” or some such official looking source. It was about an 11-year-old girl who several
years ago was found floating on a small raft in the ocean.
After about
five “Next” clicks, and several boner pill Christian book ads, I was
getting pissed. They were only posting
one paragraph of the story on each page.
Frustrated,
I went to Google and Googled the girls name.
The first choice offered was a Readers Digest article about this
girl.
It was the
same article.
“The News
Place” copied the “Readers Digest” article word for word.
From now on,
when one of these jack holes sucks me into an interesting story I will go
straight to Google.
Click that
Jack-Holes!!
I never heard of the click bait term before or what it meant (I need to get out more). I have been caught in situations like that before; now it makes sense with all the ads, etc. I'll be sure to avoid them now in the future! Thanks for the education!
ReplyDeletebetty
I have learned about click bait, too well. Some of those bleep have a thing that won't let you do anything - in them. I have become very wary and seldom click on them. I have to have someone I kind of know give it a like or somesuch. That crap is very frustrating and lately it's gotten worse. Almost considering quitting fb because of all those bleep ads.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea! I am always wary of click bait because some of the ads have code in them which later puts up a stupid thing on your screen saying "You have won some stupid prize or other, do you want it?" If you click anything on the page, including "OK" or "Close" or "unsubscribe" they know you're there so you cannot close the page. (or else, if you forget, and try, the page freezes). The only thing is to do CTRL ALT DELETE and close the task on the task manager, and if that doesn't work just close the whole computer down.
ReplyDeleteYeah, google sounds much better ...
Any kind of teaser frustrates me and i have often just googled a story to keep from having to read it on the site that is posting teasers about it. Why they think anyone wants to buy what they have to sell when they freeze your computer is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteWhere have I been - I've never heard of click baits and never been 'caught' in anything like you wrote about. I do sometimes get nuisance emails on the Yahoo site, which is why I never use it. Yahoo allow all the rubbish scams/email in but Google doesn't. Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteLearning something new again today! Very interesting, Joeh.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea. I didn't think to Google it. I just gave up on clicking on it to begin with.
ReplyDeleteGood job, Joe. Thanks for sharing, 'cause we've all been there.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have been spared. Guess it is my suspicious nature. Even on emails I get from friends, I don't follow the link but Google the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to experience this, so thanks to you I know what to do if I ever face this situation.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that. So annoying. Yes..go straight to Google and look up the article you are interested in reading. Save yourself a lot of irritation.
ReplyDeleteYep, I just exit this stuff. Makes me crazy with all the crud that appears.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
From the comments, it's obvious that you are not the last person on Earth to learn this term. You can add me to the list!!
ReplyDeleteI have a easily gotten sucked in by click bait, esp. When it resembles real news. Happened to me today when trying to get info on the Leah Remini/Scientology special or movie, whatever it is.
ReplyDeleteI am largely immune to it except on twitter, where click bait somehow gains magical powers that confuses even my cynical millennial brain.
ReplyDeleteStill, see how these child actors look today. You won't believe #6!
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteYep - I know all about click bait, having been suckered into it many times.
It's all crap but sadly difficult to ignore!
:o)
Cheers
PM
I avoid any ads on the sidebars of blogs and my computer is set up to disallow popups so I'm not annoyed by the intrusions.
ReplyDeleteWell aware of these and NEVER go there no matter how interesting the title appears.
ReplyDeleteI am a sucker for a great story...I don't purchase the pills or anything else...Google is getting a lot more of my business I can tell you that!
ReplyDeleteI know all about click bait, and I fell for it again today! I clicked on the arrow, thinking it was taking me to the next page, but that opened up a full-page ad. I don't remember what for, because I closed it before it was done loading.
ReplyDeleteWhat I NEEDED to do (besides google the subject instead!) was click on the box that said MORE. I knew what kind of site it was when I saw the first page. But really, who can resist finding out about 8 Celebrities Believed to be Illuminati.
I see them all the time, and I must admit every once in a while the story seems worth the aggravation. I've finally learned to just pass on them. Thanks for the warning.
ReplyDeleteNo, no, no, never click on anything that has "and you won't believe what she did in response!" in it.
ReplyDeleteI admit to not being very tech savvy, but I hadn't heard of click bait (I'm 34), so thanks for sharing. I've seen those "articles" before, I just never knew they had a name, just that they were annoying.
ReplyDeleteYep! Jackholes for sure. But then I feel dumb for getting to the 3rd click in the first place! 😳
ReplyDelete