Source: Bigstock Photo
Halloween is just around the corner and we have tricks and treats in this week’s Five on Friday for you, including the FBI investigates ad fraud and questionable media buying practices in the U.S., Apple puts a stop to tricksters using deceitful practices to entice users into subscribing, Discord opens a beta games store and revamps its Nitro games subscription, DocuSign agrees to acquire SpringCM, and Shopify shares three support channels your subscription business needs now.
FBI Investigates Questionable U.S. Media Buying Practices
Source: Bigstock Photo
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are doing a criminal investigation into questionable U.S. media buying practices, reports DMNews.com. The FBI has contacted the legal counsel for the Association of National Advertisers to ask for their cooperation. ANA’s members include Proctor & Gamble and General Motors. Its strategic partners include Facebook, Google, Pandora, Twitter and the U.S. Postal Service.
ANA shared its letter with AdExchanger. In it, ANA CEO Bob Liodice said, “The starting point is to identify those advertisers which believe they have been defrauded. We suggest to members who think they may have been defrauded to retain counsel (through their own engagements and at their own cost), review their media buying history and contracts, perform audits for indications of fraud and get advice on their options.”
The FBI has referred to a 2016 K2 Intelligence Report commissioned by the ANA which outlines nontransparent business practices, reports AdExchanger. According to the report, of the 117 media buying sources, 59 said they had experienced nontransparent business practices, including 34 who said there were issues with rebates. ANA’s legal counsel, Reed Smith, LLP, said they expect the investigation to be long-term and it could include mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.
Read more about the investigation at DMNews.com and AdExchanger.
Apple Remove Apps Trying to Trick Users into Subscribing
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Apple is saying “no” to apps that are trying to trick subscribers into subscribing to expensive apps or to those with recurring fees. According to TechCrunch, the savvy tricksters intentionally fool app users with the design of their products, offering free trials and other misleading tactics. TechCrunch reviewed some of the top-rated apps and read the reviews and fine print. Some of the issues include:
- Aggressive sales techniques (e.g., repeated prompts to buy)
- Minimal functionality without upgrading
- Lack of transparency for free trials, including short trials
- Difficult cancellation policies
- High priced apps. For example, one QR code app charges users $156 per year.
- Designs that trick users into subscribing
“Trickery like this isn’t anything news – its’ been around on the web as long as software has been sold. It’s just that, now, subscriptions are the hip way to scam,” wrote Sarah Perez in “Sneaky Subscriptions Are Plaguing the App Store” for TechCrunch.
Forbes also named apps that appear to be scamming their customers, reports The Inquirer, and Apple appears to be paying attention. While Apple has not confirmed this, 11 of the 17 apps named by Forbes are no longer available in the App Store.
The bottom line: subscription companies of every type – including apps – should disclose all terms and conditions up front and make sure that information is easy to find and understand. Misleading, nontransparent and bait-and-switch techniques should not be tolerated by the App Store, Google Play or any other subscription marketplace. No tricks, just treats.
Discord Opens Games Store to the World and Revamps Nitro Subscription
Discord proudly announced the launch of the Discover Store Global Beta this Thursday with a fun, if a bit obscure, YouTube video.