If it’s on the Internet, it’s not always true.

There are lots of scams you can find on the Internet, most of them targeted at you. But there's a new trend that's happening now, and it's showing up on Google. When you do a Google search, you expect that the results will come up and be mostly truthful. But what Deanna Dewberry of News 10 NBC discovered are some searches are packed full of fraudulent advertisements. 

Deanna’s Google search was focused on diet supplements, and it seems to me that that's a very fertile place for fraudulent advertising. Another buzzword Search to be skeptical of is organic. How do you know which ads are real and which ads aren't? How much time are you going to invest in finding out this information? I gave up 15 minutes of my life the other day watching a video about something I was really interested in, and it turned out that it was a fraud. 15 minutes of my life I will never get back. 

Deanna says in her article, 

“But it’s really hard for consumers to do their own research when the scams are mixed in with the authentic Google search results.  One Google result makes it look as though the American Heart Association is endorsing keto gummies.  But when I clicked on the site, I was directed to another scam, a fake Fox News article again falsely claiming that “Shark Tank” endorsed the gummies.“ 

Things to remember when you're doing your Google search. 

Be skeptical if you see a celebrity video endorsing a product and the video is of very low quality. AI videos still have flaws that you can spot, but they're better. 

If a product review sounds too good to be true it probably is. 

Be careful when you're Googling something you know nothing about. Some scammers can tamper with your search results and pull you in. 

In general. Just be skeptical, Google doesn't always get it right. Google claims they delete millions of fake ads every year, yet we still have more fake ads showing up, Every year. 

 News10NBC Investigates: Spotting the scammers on big online marketplaces - WHEC.com