The Alliance Against Bait & Click, an industry-sponsored group, is warning online consumers this holiday season about fake ads, which we've often found in the "Sponsored Links" sections of search engines. The group gives the following advice, with a few details added in from our own experience:
Look carefully at an ad before you click on it, making sure the headline, URL and text match up. Probably wouldn't hurt to look for spelling and grammar errors too.
Make sure the ad isn't taking you somewhere you don't want to go. If you click on an ad for a room at a Marriott Hotel, and you wind up at a search engine, check the search engine and its terms of use carefully.
If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Beware the word "free," especially when applied to expensive items like laptops and mp3 players.