For a few weeks earlier this year, lying clickbait in the form of sponsored articles by Taboola, Revcontent and Outbrain seemed to disappear from websites. But unfortunately it’s back in a big way.
Let’s check out the latest lies from content promotion services.
A Taboola article titled “Rare photos not suitable for history books”
featured a sepia-tone photo of a pretty woman. But the picture isn’t
old. It’s a modern photo of model Gabby Grave in lingerie. (See her
profile at
Model Mayhem and
Facebook.)
An article titled “Photos from Woodstock 1969 you can’t unsee” from Outbrain used a photo an attractive young lady. But the picture is not from Woodstock. It’s of British actress Madeline Smith, who was photographed in May 1971, according to
Getty Images.
Another Taboola article titled “Why North Korea shouldn’t agitate the U.S. Navy” used a photo of a demonstration vessel that isn’t used by the Navy. The watercraft is the Ghost attack boat from Juliet Marine Systems. (See article by
Tactical Life.)
Actresses Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy are common subjects for lying clickbait articles about weight loss.
A Revcontent article titled “After losing 70 lbs. Rebel Wilson is unbelievably gorgeous” juxtaposed photos of Wilson with English model Iskra Lawrence.
Another Revcontent article titled “After losing 200 lbs. Melissa McCarthy looks like a model” used a Photoshopped picture of the actress. (Original photo below.)
Lying clickbait articles often tease photos of grown-up celebrity children, but use deceptive pictures.
Revcontent recently promoted an article titled “Remember Sandra Bullock’s son? Try not to gasp when you see how (he looks now).” It juxtaposed a picture of Bullock and her adopted son Louis with a photo of author and YouTube celebrity Derrick Jaxn, who apparently has no connection to the other two.
A Taboola article titled “Denzel Washington’s son has grown up to be gorgeous” used a photo of Washington and his “Flight” co-star Kelly Reilly to exploit the curiosity gap. Reilly is not the mother of Washington’s son.
A Taboola article titled “Canceled TV shows: The complete list of television cancellations 2017” uses a photo from the Netflix series “Marvel’s Luke Cage,” which has not been canceled.
A Revcontent article titled “Once a star, now totally broke” uses a photo of actress Julia Stiles from the movie “10 Things I Hate About You.” She has been used to promote so many fake articles that BuzzFeed wrote a story titled “
Why Does The Internet Hate Julia Stiles?”
Her photos have been used to promote articles about dead celebrities, transgender celebrities and former celebrities that now have normal jobs. All not true.
Finally, Taboola recently ran a clickbait article titled “Mysterious photos that science cannot explain.” It used a photo of Instagram model Claire Abbott. The only thing science can’t explain about her is how freaking hot she is.
Hopefully Abbott is making some money off all the clickbait advertisements she’s being used in over the years. Other recent examples include articles titled “These photos were not Photoshopped – look closer” and “Can you deal with a sugar mama?”
Related articles about Claire Abbott:
Clickbait cuties: The sexy sirens of sponsored articles (
March 27, 2017)
Lying clickbait: Sloppy mistakes or deliberate errors? (
Dec. 9, 2017)
