Ad Scams and Arbitrage

Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages — a practice called advertising arbitrage. Snopes is here to save you the click.

AOC whose full name is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not own one of the world's most expensive houses.

Ad Falsely Claims AOC Owns One of World’s Most Expensive Houses

2 June 2021

We hope this saves readers more than 150 clicks.

News

An online ad showed WD-40 being sprayed into a car's gas tank.

Ad Promises WD-40 Trick for Gas Tanks … 70-Page Article Never Mentions It

2 June 2021

Some corners of the internet would have you believe WD-40 can do anything.

News

Chrissy Metz weight loss ads showed the This Is Us star in a misleading way.

Chrissy Metz of ‘This Is Us’ Fame Featured in Misleading Weight Loss Ads

31 May 2021

Advertisers posted a doctored image of actress Melissa McCarthy with Metz's face while at the...

News

Juan Williams salary at Fox News was the subject of a strange internet ad.

Juan Williams’ Salary at Fox News Promised in Misleading Ad

19 May 2021

The strange ad led to a 121-page article. We promise this story will only be...

News

Hetty Lange from NCIS Los Angeles was mentioned in an ad that led to a story that didn't mention her once.

Hetty from ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Highlighted in Misleading Ad

19 May 2021

For at least several months, a strange online advertisement promised information about "why Hetty no...

News

Ads about Thomas Ravaux claimed Tenants Destroy Home But Landlord Gets Last Laugh and Landlord Gets Ultimate Revenge When Tenants Leave.

Did a Landlord Get Revenge on Tenants Who Destroyed a Home?

12 May 2021

Readers may have seen ads that claimed a landlord got the "ultimate revenge" and "last...

Fact Check

An ad claimed that 1 in 2 Mac Users Are Unaware of This Trick to Clean Their Mac but it simply led to software called MacKeeper.

Are 1 in 2 Mac Users ‘Unaware’ of a ‘Trick’ to Clean a Mac?

12 May 2021

For several years, an online advertisement claimed that "1 in 2 Mac users" were "unaware"...

Fact Check

Did Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer Get Married?

27 April 2021

A routine review of intentionally misleading online advertisements.

Fact Check

WD-40 cannot fix a cracked phone screen.

Can WD-40 Fix Cracked Phone Screens?

25 April 2021

Pictures of WD-40 cans pointed at cracked phone screens have appeared for years in YouTube...

Fact Check

A boy did not reveal his dads secret at school nor did doctors take him to hospital the next day.

Did Doctors Hospitalize a Boy After He Revealed His Dad’s Secret?

24 April 2021

The real story was already fairly remarkable, but advertisers took it up a notch in...

Fact Check

Katy Perry was not banned by SNL despite the claim made in an online ad.

Was Katy Perry Banned for Life From ‘SNL’?

19 April 2021

An article claimed to list a number of celebrities who perhaps won't reappear on NBC's...

Fact Check

Its true that the Swamp Ghost B-17E bomber from World War II was found in 1972.

Did WWII Plane Found in Jungle Still Have Coffee in Thermoses?

18 April 2021

The story of "Swamp Ghost," a Boeing B-17E bomber, began during World War II and...

Fact Check