Clickbait cuties bring all the boys to the yard

Clickbait purveyors can’t resist running risqué photos of pretty women to attract attention and drive clicks online.
Here are some recent examples with subjects both old and new.

A recent promoted article titled “35 of the most paused movie scenes in Hollywood history” used a photo of actress Kirsten Baker from “Friday the 13th Part 2” (1981).

An article titled “These photos couldn’t have been taken at a more perfect moment” used a photo of Hungarian tennis player Ágnes Szávay.

A similar article titled “She had no clue why the crowd started cheering her” used a photo of Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini. I noted this same photo used in clickbait in 2017.

Another version of that same promoted article used a photo of San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush Cheerleaders from pre-2017.

And finally, clickbait favorite Claire Abbott returned in a promoted article titled “The most beautiful women ever.” Abbott is a Canadian model and singer who went viral as a teenager for her sexy photos from about 2013 to 2017.

Clickbait companies are back to their old tricks

No, your favorite TV show hasn’t been canceled. That’s just a trick that clickbait companies use to get your attention.
When lying clickbait purveyors promote a story about TV shows that have been canceled they often use a photo of a popular series that definitely has not been canceled.
Most recently, Taboola promoted an article titled “Netflix cancels another round of great shows” with a photo of Jenna Ortega from “Wednesday.” The series was renewed for a second season in January.
Clickbait articles last fall were falsely claiming that hit series “Yellowstone” had been canceled.

Clickbait purveyors also like to exaggerate the ages of celebrities.
A recent article titled “Oldest living star, almost 101” used a photo of actor Lee Majors with his late ex-wife Farrah Fawcett. Majors is 83.
Last year, clickbait articles said Angie Dickinson was “turning 100” when she was 90. Other clickbait articles have exaggerated the ages of Clint Eastwood and Jaclyn Smith.

Finally, a clickbait article titled “Valerie Bertinelli transformation gone wrong” used a photo of plastic surgery addict Jocelyn Wildenstein.

Lying clickbait never sleeps

Clickbait purveyors will do just about anything to get you to click on a sponsored article. That includes lying.
Often, they will use a photo of a sexy woman that is unrelated to the article being promoted.
For instance, a recent sponsored article titled “These Woodstock photos went a bit too far,” used a photo that’s obviously not from the famous 1969 concert in Bethel, N.Y.
Judging from the red mud in the original photo, the woman looks like she’s at the Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. (See Sports Illustrated photos from 2011 Redneck Games.)

Some website called GotGravy has been running sponsored articles with the title “The most iconic photo ever published in Life magazine.” The photos are interesting but far from “the most iconic photo ever.”
One shows Swedish high jumper Gunhild Larking from the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. (See Sports Illustrated pictorial about Gunhild Larking from the games.)

Another shows the cast of the 1969 British film “Three,” starring Charlotte Rampling, Robie Porter and Sam Waterston.

Lying clickbait firms also like to spread lies about celebrities.
One article implied that actor Robby Benson is now a woman. It had the headline “Remember Robby Benson: This is her now.”

Another made actress Courteney Cox look way older than she is. It used a photo that had been altered with a photo app called FaceApp. It carried the headline “Courteney Cox, 57, takes off makeup, leaves us with no words.”

Finally, lying clickbait purveyors love to alarm TV fans with articles that imply that their favorite shows have been canceled.
Here are two examples for hit series “Yellowstone.”

‘Chilling historical photos’ that aren’t, courtesy of lying clickbait

Promoters of lying clickbait often hype “chilling,” “creepy” or “brutal” historical photos with pictures that aren’t.
One recent clickbait promotion from Past Chronicles promised “Chilling historical photos.” It said, “Warning, these rarely seen photos are not suitable for all audiences.” But it used a photo from a catalog of bridal dresses from the Justin Alexander Spring 2016 collection. Not very historical or chilling for that matter. (See Strictly Weddings website.)

Another promotion from Past Chronicles with the same title used a photo of Playboy Playmate Louann Fernald from 1979. Nothing “chilling” here unless you count the temperature when the Playboy photographer shot this car-wash pictorial.

A promoted tweet by JourneyRanger on Twitter touted “Never seen before Wild West photos.” But the two photos used were modern-day photos made to look old.
The left photo is by Russian photographer Dmitry Rubinshteyn and the right photo is of model Denyce Lawton.

Another clickbait article titled “Brutal Wild West images” by Bonvoyaged.com used a photo by French photographer Robert Doisneau. He was known for his Paris street life photos from the 1930s through 1960s. Not exactly the Wild West.

This next one is a bit of a mystery. A sponsored link by MoneyWise.com titled “30 defunct restaurant chains that Americans don’t miss” used a photo from a restaurant that I certainly would miss. It shows nine pretty, young women in short skirts and chef hats working in an industrial-style bakery.
The image is available as a stock photo from the Everett Collection, which started as a collection of stills from old movies. None of the stock photo services have details on the photo and whether it is from a movie. The ladies look like they’re from a chorus line in a Busby Berkeley musical.
Another photo in the same collection shows three women with large bowls of doughnuts.
If you know when this photo was taken (1930s perhaps?) and for what purpose, let me know.

Finally, a bonus clickbait article uses the tactic of misidentifying a celebrity’s age to draw attention. A recent promoted article was titled “Angie Dickinson is turning 100. This is her now.” Dickinson is 90.

Lying clickbait firms love photos of sexy women

Clickbait firms will use any old photo of sexy women to drive traffic. The photo can be completely unrelated to the article – it doesn’t matter to them. Clicks are all that matters.
For instance, a sponsored article by Forbes titled “Attention retirees: How this ETF pays a 7% yield” used a photo of an attractive young lady. The woman is Marian Rivera, a Filipina recording artist, actress and model. The photo is from FHM magazine. What does Rivera have to do with exchange-traded funds?

An article titled “33 photos from Woodstock” used a photo that was not from Woodstock. In the years that I’ve been covering lying clickbait, there have been many examples of supposed Woodstock photos that weren’t from the 1969 music festival. In this case, the photo is of celebrities Debbie Boone, Joyce DeWitt and Maren Jensen from “Battle of the Network Stars V” (1978).

An Outbrain article used a photo of stunning actress Halle Berry to draw clicks. The article was titled “Halle Berry’s daughter is probably the prettiest woman ever existed.” But her daughter is only 13 years old, you sickos.

Finally, a series of articles titled “NFL wives that are perfect 10s” ran photos of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Jon Gruden with a teenage Claire Abbott, who was an Instagram model more than 20 years ago. Abbott is not married to either man.

And here's a bonus clickbait article from Yahoo Finance alleges that conservative pundit Sean Hannity is gay. The article says “Sean Hannity is married to this man.” But he’s not married to a man. He is divorced from a woman. OMG!

Lying clickbait is fascinated with celebrity interracial couples

Clickbait purveyors love to tease celebrity relationships that don’t exist. Through deceptive headlines and photos, they imply relationships between people who aren’t couples.
I’ve noted previously how content promoters suggest that some celebrities are gay when they’re not. Examples include Tom Selleck and Erin Burnett.
I’ve also noticed that clickbait companies like to imply that some celebrities are in interracial relationships. Examples include Tom Selleck (again!), Pat Sajak, Denzel Washington, Will Smith with Charlize Theron, and Maria Menounos with Michael Strahan.
More recently, I’ve seen clickbait ads that imply that actor Kevin Costner and Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson are each in interracial relationships.
Outbrain ran an article titled “Kevin Costner celebrates 17th wedding anniversary” that used a photo of Costner with actress Octavia Spencer. The photo was taken at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The same photo was used with a clickbait article titled “They are still married today.” Well, not to each other at least.

An Outbrain article titled “At 51, this is Tucker Carlson’s better half” used a photo of Carlson with actress Vivica A. Fox. The photo was taken at a “Dancing with the Stars” after-party in November 2016. Snopes even did an article on this false clickbait.

Another clickbait article titled “Troy Aikman stuns fans with new marriage pic” used a photo of the retired NFL quarterback with retired NFL running back Jamal Anderson. The photo was taken at a reception for Super Bowl XL in February 2006 in Detroit.

Elsewhere in internet chum, a Taboola article titled “Shaq’s yacht is intimidating and expensive” used a photos of the Calibre 120M yacht concept from MUB Design. It can’t belong to basketball great Shaquille O’Neal because it doesn’t even exist.

And finally, an Outbrain article titled “Taylor Swift is unrecognizable without makeup” used a Photoshopped image of the singer. The original photo was taken at the SNL 40 event in February 2015. The altered image with the clickbait article gives Swift a much bigger bust.

Profiting from lying clickbait

For years, online content promoters have profited by serving up lying clickbait to consumers. But now the average person can profit from those businesses, too.
Two such clickbait promoters recently went public on the Nasdaq stock market: Outbrain and Taboola. But both stocks have fallen hard since their public debuts. So, maybe their businesses aren’t that great after all.
What follows are some of the latest examples of lying clickbait that I’ve seen from Outbrain’s Smartfeed.

An article promoted by Outbrain titled “Julia Roberts’ daughter turns 16 and is her replica” used two different photos, neither of which featured her daughter.
One post showed Julia with her niece, actress Emma Roberts, from a movie premiere in February 2010. The other showed Julia in a Photoshopped picture with her younger self. (The latter photo is part of a series of pictures of celebrities paired with their younger selves. The illustrations were created by Linzi Silverman for People.com.)

An Outbrain article titled “[Photos] Meet Tom Selleck’s better half” used a photo of Selleck with Access Hollywood host Shaun Robinson, not his wife.

An Outbrain article titled “Tom Cruise’s private jet is absurd” used a photo of a tricked-out limousine. The limousine pictured is called the “Learmousine” because its designer used a Learjet’s fuselage to create a street-legal party bus. (See article by Insider.)