Investigating the people behind those sketchy flat-stomach ads.

The Internet wants me to have a flat stomach—and it wants me to have it for free. Over the last few months, those flat stomach ads have followed me around the Internet like a beggar asking for money. On many of my favorite Web sites (including the ones I work for), high-class Internet advertising has been replaced by these low-budget pictures promising a better physical and superficial life.

The ads plead: Wouldn’t I like to click and read a flat-stomach testimonial? And from there, wouldn’t I like to click to see a product that could help me get that flat stomach without even trying? And from there, wouldn’t I like to order that product for free? And wouldn’t I like to give them my credit card info? And wouldn’t I like to investigate a mysterious charge on my credit card bill 30 days after I subscribe to my free product? And wouldn’t I like to hold for two hours while I try to cancel my account after I realize I’ve been had?

Such is the world of flat-stomach advertising. But it’s also the world of stretch mark ads, and white teeth ads, and government grant ads, and get-paid-to-search-Google ads. There are handfuls of these get-beautiful/healthy/rich-quick schemes floating around the Internet, and all their advertising structures behave the same way: Some sketchy ad leads you to some sketchy testimonial page, which then leads you to the sketchy product itself. When you order the product, the vendor doesn’t always make clear that you’re signing up for a free trial, and when that’s over you’ll be charged up to $90 every month until you find a way to cancel. There isn’t much information about why all of these scams operate in the same way, even though this kind of Web advertising is quite prevalent. TBM felt it was time to investigate. The scams are so successful because they’ve created an extremely efficient sales model—for everybody but the consumer. That paradox makes it worth exploring the seedy underbelly of the Web advertising industry. Consider this a TBM public service announcement about the people who make all of this scum possible in the first place.

The Scammer

When tracking the major players in these scams, it’s best to start at the start. At the root you have the vendor: an organization that wants to sell its product and wants help getting it in front of as many people as possible. If the vendors are shady, either ad networks (Google Adwords, Microsoft adCenter, Yahoo Publisher, etc.) will reject them straightaway, or they’ll quickly be reported as potentially fraudulent. So they need to figure out a better way to get their product in front of the desperate masses.

Unable to advertise for themselves, the vendors turn to mercenaries to help spread the word. The vendor creates something called an affiliate program that gives individuals money every time somebody they refer to the vendor’s site buys the vendor’s product. They’re the ones who are seeding the ubiquitous advertisements for flat stomachs. The affiliates in question don’t care that they’re advertising a scam, because they’re still going to get paid regardless. And payday is quite good—folks on the Internet claim to bring in more than $10,000 a month once they get the hang of being an affiliate. It’s a time-honored element of salesmanship: He who brings in a sale gets a commission—no matter the customer’s ultimate satisfaction with the product.