It’s no secret that social media and other internet platforms can be used to reach highly targeted audiences with the material you want them to view simpler than ever before.

This benefits both the advertiser and the casual internet surfer in many cases: as advertisers, we are able to fine-tune our marketing efforts to make it more relevant to our desired audience, and as a customer, you’ll get listings for things you’re more likely to want, based on your internet history.

What are Click bait ads?

Click bait Ads can be described as the use of a provocative link, image, or title to generate views are known as clickbait. 

Even though the text or image is misinterpreted, this deceptive information causes viewers to question more about the complete context of the advertisement.

Are click bait ads considered as misleading advertising?

Advertising is considered misleading under the Consumer Protection Act of 2007 if it contains false, misleading, or deceptive material that is likely to influence the ordinary consumer to act in a way they would not otherwise. 

If crucial information that the average customer requires to make an informed decision is omitted from advertising, it may be called deceptive.

But what if someone with wicked motives tries to get false ads and information past you? 

Not only could you be duped into buying something questionable or dangerous, but you could also become a victim of a financial scam.

Are click bait advertisements allowed on the Google Display Network? 

The £14 billion digital advertising market in the United Kingdom is dominated by Facebook and Google.

According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google made over £6 billion in revenue in 2019, while Facebook made more than £2 billion after securing nearly half of all display advertising. 

“We are committed to creating a high-quality experience for our users, where the promotion is evident from the ad itself,” Google said in 2019, after removing more than 51 million sensationalist ads. 

The use of click bait to drive greater web traffic is now prohibited according to Google Ads’ new policy.

Let’s dive into a few Policies Google has put in place to create a high-quality experience for users.

• Ads that pretend to uncover secrets, scandals, or other exciting information regarding the marketed product or service;
• Advertisements that employ clickbait messaging such as “Click here to find out,” “You won’t believe what happened,” or phrases comparable or similar to entice the user to click on the ad in order to fully comprehend the ad’s context;
• Advertisements that advocate major changes to the human body by using “before and after” photos
• Advertising that sells a product or service by using visibly manipulated zoomed-in body parts, mugshots, or real-life accident or disaster photographs.

Are you using Click bait ads in your advertising campaigns?

Click bait ads can surely boost your bounce rate and website traffic, but only for a short time. 

Click bait ads can take several forms, including exaggerated titles, deceptive pictures, and the absence of important information in the headline. These deceptive approaches can leave a negative lasting impression of your business with your clients.

Your viewers may never return due to ineffective content and sensationalized titles or images.

Click bait advertising has the potential to detract from your online presence and destroy your reputation, especially when it has the ability to disseminate misleading information and fake news.

Click bait attracts a lot of criticism, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if click bait ads should be used in ad campaigns or not.

In the meantime let’s take a look at a few pros and cons of using click bait ads in your ad campaigns

Pros

1. Leads to more page views -As the sole purpose of creating click bait, it should come as a no brainer that the initial benefit of this form of content is more page views. If you merely want to attract page views and that is your goal then using click bait ads is a great method to do it.
2. Increase in Social Shares – Click bait ads that are effective are almost as easy to share on social media as it is to click in the first place. 
3. Increased brand awareness- The third advantage of click bait is that it raises brand awareness. If click bait generates more visits and social shares, it follows that as your material spreads over the web, more people will be exposed to your brand.

Cons

1. Brand Image may be harmed and trust is lost as a result of misleading click bait advertising.
2. Few things can anger and damage your audience’s trust faster than intentionally misrepresenting them. 

People want to be brought to content that matches their expectations when they click on a piece of content. If you purposely deceive people for the sake of a page view, they will not only leave almost instantly, but they may also have an unfavorable impression of your brand as a result

1. Pageviews aren’t that important if clients are looking for conversions leading to sales.

Many content marketers have jumped on the click bait bandwagon, producing substandard content masquerading as something fascinating in the hopes of increasing page views for their clients. 

However, these efforts may be in vain, as PPC experts believe that page views are no longer an important metric to look at especially if their clients are looking for conversions leading to sales on their products or services.

1. People, on the other hand, will not share just anything since the type of content they share among their social networks is frequently intimately linked to perceptions of their personalities.

As we’ve seen, there are benefits and drawbacks to using click bait advertising in your content marketing plan, and only you can decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks for your business.

Leave a comment down below and feel free to share your thoughts on this one! We would love to hear it!