Why Facebook should kill 'Obama stimulus check' ads

06.02.2009
"The U.S. Government is sending checks for over [US]$26,000 to help you pay of your debt. You Never Need To Repay!" So claims the latest ad to clutter my screen at . I click the ad. It takes me to a site, jeffgetsgrants.com, with a photo of a guy above some text that claims he's a firefighter named Jeff Donahue. Jeff claims he "went from being broke to completely paying off my debt in 30 days by spending a few minutes filling out a form online that qualified me for a Free $12,000 Financial Aid Check from the US Government."

At the bottom of the page are what look like a bunch of blog comments with a single theme: "Thanks I just got a check for $80,000 to pay off my mortgage. It works." But there's no commenting system on the site. On the right side of the page are what look like a half dozen Google ads: "Gov Grant Money" and "Get Free Grants in 1 Week." They're not Google ads. It's one big block of image text, all of which clicks through to the same site, . There, I get a different pitch for a different grant application package. A ticking clock on the page urges me to hurry and type in my contact info.

Jeff isn't the only advertiser promising grant money. I also get ads pointing to ObamaStimulusProgram.com and GovernmentGrants.org/Obama, which redirects to governmentgrantsreview.org. In Facebook slang, It's Complicated.

Facebook has been serving these ads nonstop for the past few days. Needless to say, . "Why does facebook sell/allow those scam ads?" tweets . "The have the 'free wii downloads' and now the stimulus check.' BAD FACEBOOK!"

I doubt that many people bother to complete the entire order process for a "grant kit" that costs several times more than the $1.99 that Jeff's page implies. Still, Facebook's management should reconsider these ads for two reasons:

1. They turn off Facebook members. Most won't bother to tweet their discontent. They'll just hit the back button.