Clickbait 'topic' titles (covert ads)

[Docno]

In today's TV newsletter email, there was, as usual, a list of 'featured topics'. The topmost topic was "Will Trump being elected affect the Thai economy?". Sounds like a normal topic for conversation, right? Well, it was just bait. When you clicked through, everything looked normal except there was a small red 'ribbon' with some text saying "Advertorial" (whatever the hell that made-up word really means). Without reading more, I scrolled to the end to see a bolded line starting with "Now is the time to invest in Thailand". I consciously refused to read the rest of the statement, but I could see there was some link to what is surely a commercial site. So this is the result: I feel annoyed about being tricked into clicking through to an extended advertisement, and I have no idea who the vendor is because that annoyance made me refuse to give them a chance. Since TV is obviously supporting this duplicitous tactic, I feel annoyed at you too. I would expect others will feel the same way.

 

We know you need to make money, but is this the way to do it? Can you at least put 'ad' in the title in the email newsletter ... I mean why even call it a featured topic when there is no topic to discuss??  /venting over

  

[Docno]

Damn.... you got me again with the New Nordic piece. Thought it was going to be a piece on a dodgy gang of vikings and it turned out to be another lengthy ad in disguise. Of course, I didn't look beyond the first few sentences so I don't know or care who is selling what. But I wish you wouldn't be so deceptive/deceptive your marketing tactics....

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post (or it might have been spam for a circus)