Fake Game Ads Need to be Declared ILLEGAL

Yawn! Annoyed! These fake game ads need to stop. These deceptive ads should be deemed illegal. The most recent super annoying ad that I've been saying lately is Gossip Harbor. If it's too good to be true, don't believe it! The ad promised that it was free, with no ads, and that those who downloaded it would receive a free gift of USD 100.00. Doesn't that sound too good to be true? I decided not to download it, since I was fearful that Gossip Harbor may contain some dangerous malware. The ad, featuring a Caucasian man saying the stuff I just mentioned earlier, was too good to be true.

What might be driving companies to make these super annoying fake game ads?

Yes, they get super annoying. Come on, it's just plain common sense. Why are these game ads always showing someone playing a basic game, and screwing up? When you download, you get something completely different. The Udonis blog gives this possible reason behind the fake ads:

Frustration Bait (a.k.a. “Fail Ads”)

You’ve definitely seen these: a character messes up the most obvious move in a puzzle. Pulls the wrong pin. Chooses the wrong door. Gets eaten by a monster… for the fifth time.

It’s infuriating—but that’s the point.

These ads are designed to make you think, “Are you serious? I could do that in my sleep.” And now, you’re not just watching. You’re engaged. You want to prove you’re smarter than the “player” in the ad.

This taps into what psychologists call reactance—a mental pushback against something frustrating or unfair. You see someone fail repeatedly at something simple, and you instinctively want to take control and do it right.

And that means clicking.

Trying to develop a controlled temper while watching these games isn't easy! The point is, it's pretty much, "That's just easy! I can do this!" You download, and you find out that it's not the same game. It's a serious deception! Sure, it can draw in a lot of users. However, it can also irritate users. Some have gone as bad as to say, "We're not lying!" or "What you see is what you get." while competing with others, who make the fake mobile game ads!

Studios make them for what reason? The Udonis blog gives this interesting information on why these companies use fake game ads:

High installs don’t always mean high retention. Plenty of people delete the game once they realize it’s not what they expected. But from a growth standpoint, fake ads are still a fast, cheap way to hit user acquisition targets, which is why studios keep making them.

If what you see is not what you get, it can definitely irritate potential customers. Why would I want to pay money for items over a game that was different from the ad? It's also a huge irritation. Another reason why it might be better to skip mobile gaming overall isn't just financial; you also need to save your psychology from having to view those annoying ads. Ads that are too good to be true.

There are a lot and I mean a lot of them. Who can remember seeing the Evony fake ads or the Gardenscapes, Homescapes, etc. fake ads? Those get super annoying because what you see isn't what you get. Sure, those annoying fake game ads eventually inspired games like Save the Girl (which is pretty hilarious), or several pull-the-pin games, involving you helping a mother and her daughter. But the idea and implementation came from the game developers who actually went so far, as to create the games. All dishonest advertisers have done is to infuriate the customer into downloading something else!

One of the biggest possible reasons why these fake game ads exist is that there may not be laws in the USA against them. Advertisers in general should never allow such hideous fake ads. Depending on how long these fake game ads are and how much harm they caused, I believe certain degrees of penalty need to be implemented. To do so, it may be necessary for people to screenshot the whole transaction, so as to post it online and warn others. Depending on the number of clicks and downloads, it may require a fine fitting for the offense. Failure to pay the fines may result in the suspension of the company's privileges.

Being silent about this atrocious business practice is indirectly condoning it. It's not just a simple insult that one can walk away from. This is giving room for unethical practices, which would condone deceptive advertising. This is a matter of intrusion of the need for honest business practices.

The Good Old Days when Gasoline was Cheaper Under the Late Noynoy Aquino

Millennials' Voice I would like to clarify first and foremost that this post isn't an attempt to say that the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III's legacy was all bad. Some good things happened. However, let me be clear that it's stupid to say, " We don't need economic cha-cha because of the late Noynoy. " However, let me clear that I decided to write this because of a Facebook post called Millennials' Voice , which wrote this: Did you know that during President Noynoy Aquino's time, the price of oil in the world market was high, between $100 and $110 per barrel. But even with those high prices, gasoline and diesel at local pumps in the country were still relatively affordable. Under President Duterte, world oil prices went up and down, from a low of $41 to a high of $101 per barrel. The big jump to $101 in 2022 happened because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Now, under the current president, world oil prices have gone up again to around $...

The Myth of "Invading" Other Countries Through Foreign Investors and Overseas Filipino Workers

BoardGameGeek Years ago, I could remember how "Filipino pride" seems to be required by the DECS. Some songs in the Filipino subject (or called Tagalog) tend to glorify it. One of the songs was called "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" (or "I'm Pinoy") feels ironic since it was played on an imported music player. We had discussions for years about how Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are often the unsung heroes or the new heroes. The mentality kept going on with how people desired to take a particular course not because they wanted to--it's because they wanted to go abroad. Why I wanted to take Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) was not just to impress people but also to go abroad . However, more people shifted away from BSIT either because they were eliminated (common cause) or because it was too hard for them. Some of them flat out admitted that they took BSIT in hopes of going abroad. Some were taking nursing in hopes of again-- going abro...

Learning from the Late Lee Kuan Yew's Proving Protectionist-Driven Economists Wrong About Multinational Corporations

Reading the book From Third World to First is really a must. The late Lee Kuan Yew was faced with the mentality of the development economists of his day. Here's an excerpt from "Chapter 4--Surviving Without a Hinterland" which I'd like to share from Pages 57-58: After several years of disheartening trial and error, we concluded that Singapore's best hope lay with the American multinational corporations (MNCs). When the Taiwanese and Hong Kong entrepreneurs came in the 1960s, they brought low technology such as textile and toy manufacturing, labor-intensive but not large-scale. American MNCs brought higher technology in large-scale operations, creating many jobs. They had weight and confidence. They believed that their government was going to stay in Southeast Asia and their businesses were safe from confiscation or war loss. I gradually crystallized my thoughts and settled on a two-pronged strategy to overcome our disadvantages. The first was to leapfrog the reg...

"Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Lower Philippine Gas Prices?

Inquirer Gasoline prices have increased again, haven't they? A few days ago, I wrote why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba's view of gas prices is questionable . Today, I feel like writing this after several complaints on Facebook. I would like to create a follow-up post. People are complaining too much without understanding the real reason why some countries have lower prices of gasoline. Real talk. We need to talk about economic policies, and of course, please do a study on supply-demand analysis on supply chain management . Let's examine the complaints made by Bulatlat Bulatlat Here's a chart from Bulatlat that compares the increase in prices of gasoline between the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. It's always problematic when people ignore simple economics. It's funny, but Bulatlat mentions this on their website: Note also how expensive our diesel and gasoline products are compared to those of our ASEAN neighbors. The estimated common price today of diesel in...

You're Complaining About PHP Devaluation But Do You Know Some Asian Powerhouses Have WEAKER Currency?

Social media comments can be very toxic, aren't they? Sure, I didn't vote for Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. However, I can't blame him for anything beyond his control. The late former Philippine president, Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, had nothing to do with the prices of gasoline being lower. Neither does former Philippine president, Rodrigo R. Duterte, have anything to do with the prices of gasoline. We find that the US Dollar (USD) is definitely getting stronger in proportion to the Philippine peso (PHP). Yes, it could reach up to PHP 60.00 or even higher. I remembered experiencing this during the time of former Philippine president, Joseph M. Ejercito aka Joseph Estrada . I really blamed Estrada back then for it even when it wasn't his fault either. People can start panicking over the devaluation of the PHP. There are plenty of crude comments on Facebook I wouldn't bother screenshotting them all. Instead, I decided to finally write this economi...

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