Lying clickbait exploits the curiosity gap with incorrect photos

One of the tricks that clickbait purveyors use to get web surfers to click on their items is to use an incorrect photo.
This exploits the “curiosity gap.” People see a promoted article with an odd photo and say to themselves, “What the heck?” They feel compelled to click on it to find out what’s up with the headline subject and the unusual photo. Often there is no connection – it’s just lying clickbait.
Here are some recent examples.

Revcontent ran an article titled “Why George Lopez never mentions his daughter is heartbreaking.” It used a photo of the comedian alongside a picture of a heavily tattooed woman. She is not his daughter. That woman is Mirella Ponce of Fresno, Calif. She attained some notoriety for her striking mugshot photo. (See articles by the Fresno Bee, KRON 4 and YourCentralValley.)

Revcontent ran another article titled “Tiger Woods’ ex-wife is 38 now and is nearly unrecognizable.” It used a photo of the golfer alongside a picture of a woman who is not his ex-wife. That woman is Instagram model Laci Kay Somers. At one point she was rumored to be dating Woods, but she denied it. In fact, she said he had never met him.

Taboola ran an article titled “This warship is an enemy’s worst nightmare.” It used a photo of an artist’s conception of a fictional submarine-cum-aircraft carrier. The fantasy craft is the work of Igor Ljubuncic at website Dedoimedo.

A sponsored article titled “Rare historical Vietnam photos showcase a different side of war” was illustrated with a picture of a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter. The picture is by photographer Peter Tonna. He photographed the aircraft in Malta in November 1991. This beast of a helicopter never flew in the Vietnam War.

Finally, Outbrain ran an item titled “Horrifying Titanic photos found on old camera.” It used a black-and-white copy of a still from the 1997 film “Titanic.” Versions of this lying clickbait have been running for years.

Previous articles on lying clickbait:

Clickbait firms love Russian women (Aug. 8, 2018)

Lying clickbait: ‘Photos taken seconds before tragedy’ (Aug. 6, 2018)

Fake news! Lying clickbait exposed! (June 23, 2018)

Fake historical photos, deceptive pictures and other lying clickbait tactics (April 3, 2018)

Fake Old West photos, fake teachers and other lying clickbait (Jan. 25, 2018)