Companies pay to get to the top of the search results list on the web. One in three elderly people does not know that, according to a poll by the seniors’ organization ANBO. This can have dire consequences, because people look for a solution on the internet for many consumer problems. Clicking on an ad may lead to an untrustworthy party.
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is therefore starting a campaign to make older consumers more aware of this. The top search result doesn’t always have to be the best. Usually these are advertisements and that is not always the best offer for the consumer. The advice is to take the time to compare different results before engaging a company. Even when time is short.
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Not all consumers recognize advertisements when they search for information online. ACM Consuwijzer regularly receives reports from consumers who ended up with an unreliable party via an advertisement when they were looking for a company for an urgent job or applied for a document or allowance from the government. These ads pose a risk to vulnerable consumers who are less digitally skilled.
A survey by ANBO shows that 38 percent of the over-65s find it difficult to tell the difference between an advertisement and a normal search result. A quarter say they do not look at whether the search result is an advertisement or not. Rum sees half of the respondents the risk of clicking ads.