If you’ve used Google recently to look up a computer problem or in search of a software update to get your latest gadget working you’ve likely noticed the proliferation of sites advertising ‘instant’ fixes for complex computer problems.

Here’s a good example: if you’re using Windows Vista and looking to play your older 3D games, you may run into a common error message indicating that a “d3drm.dll” file is missing or required in order to play said game.

Flipping over to Google, you search for the file name: “d3drm.dll vista” and Google returns:

The first couple of non-ad search results consist of instructions for downloading the DLL file you need to play your game on Windows Vista, thus actually solving your “d3drm.dll” problem.

The “Sponsored Links” however offer a couple of “3 minute” fixes for solving your missing DLL problem.  Sounds great right?

Clicking on the first add for “FixDlls.com” takes us to a page pitching a download of a registry cleaner application that encourages you to download the program and then buy it to fix the “problems” or “errors” it finds on your system:

Oddly though, none of the “errors” it offers to repair are DLL problem related despite the “Eliminate DLL Errors” headline.

So why advertise like this?  Obviously, the hope is that if they can bait-and-switch the “solution” to the problem you’re searching Google for, and get you to download and run their registry scanner program they can fabricate other “errors” that will scare you enough into buying their application.  Whether the software utility solves your original issue or not is irrelevant, you’re now on the hook for $49.95…

But Shouldn’t All Software Programs Be Free?

The issue here is not the fact that the company is selling their software program.  Legitimate software developers put an immense amount of work into building applications that fix problems and save people time.  They’re certainly entitled to be paid for the service their utilities provide.

But is this bait-and-switch advertising actually being done by the software companies themselves? Or is it a deeper symptom of the shift that’s taken place over the past few years in the software industry toward outsourcing marketing to 3rd party ‘affiliate marketers’?

Outsourcing marketing to 3rd party sales agents (or ‘affiliates’) can be an attractive proposition for a software company looking to increase their advertising presence and reach with minimal internal advertising spend. And since Google Adwords is the primary method more aggressive affiliate marketing agents use in capturing web traffic, it results in the kind of search results shown here.

Software Companies Need to Keep Their Affiliates In Check

Overall, Google does a pretty good job of forcing affiliates using their Adwords system to add value and provide a reason for being shown in the sponsored search results, but the software companies that have affiliate marketing programs for their products need to a better job of ensuring their affiliates are advertising accurately and not simply making unsubstantiated claims that their products can fix any and every PC problem out there.

The FTC is of course keeping a closer eye on affiliate marketing tactics, but no one is better positioned to control rogue affiliate marketing than the affiliate program’s originator.  There’s also more and more sites that are popping up offering cracks for these software programs as people get sick of paying.  For instance, Regcure license key and Driver Detective Keygen both offer access to registration paths that have keys.

Have you noticed this trend in the consumer software business?  Share a comment!

If you’ve logged into your Facebook account since this past Thursday, you might have noticed something’s different…  That’s right, those are scammiest Facebook ads you’ve seen yet.

According to insiders, on Thursday an edict came down from the ‘executive level’ to dramatically loosen the ad quality standards for Facebook’s image and text advertisements.  Up until this point, potential advertisers and their ‘affiliates’ (commission-only marketing agents) have had to meet stringent discretion guidelines to ensure users weren’t being scammed by fraudulent advertisements and ‘exclusive offers’.

The floodgates however are now open…  According to a source close to these advertisers, Facebook has decided to allow all kinds of formerly regulated advertisements including:

• “Work-at-Home” Scams
• “Free Trial” Diet Products that bill your credit card well before the trial period ends, then refuse to let you cancel
• “Free Federal Grant Money” rackets where you pay get a list of ’secret’ free grant programs (no such thing as a free lunch)
• “Free Ringtone” subscription services (The Florida Attorney General’s Office had a field day with this one)
• “Free IQ Surveys” that feed you a bunch of easily answered questions before you are required to pay to see the results.
• “Cash4Gold” Programs encouraging you to shove your jewelery in an envelope and mail it in for a third of its actual value

The list goes on, reports also indicate ‘male enhancement’ products are making it through to users.  Facebook has reportedly also significantly increased the daily spending limits for shady advertisers, enabling them to spam a wider array of users.

Some recent gems:

Wads of cash and the illegal use of celebrity images may be bringing in the clicks, but when users end up getting ripped off by all of these “free” offers, chances are they have every right to as why Facebook is suddenly allowing all this crap.

Are they that far behind MySpace in advertising revenue that they need to stoop this far?  Or is this just a grand fishing experiment to find out how much scammers are willing to pay when they’re not having any luck with legitimate advertisers?

Post a comment with the most ridiculous Facebook ad you’ve seen this week…maybe we can get them to rethink spamming their users