Google blocks copycat ads that catch out the unwary

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/12/google-blocks-copycat-website-ads

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Websites that trick the unwary into paying over the odds for government services such as passports, driving licences, European health insurance cards and the London congestion charge have been removed from the top of Google search pages in a victory for Guardian Money's long-running campaign against rogue "copycat" websites.

Money began its "Stop these sites" campaign in June last year after being inundated with complaints from readers taken in by websites that were designed to look like official government sites. We highlighted "official UK passport application" sites which paid Google to appear above the official government site and persuaded people to part with £112.50 for a passport, compared with the £72.50 real price.

The copycat phenomenon has spread to almost every government or local authority service where a fee or licence is required. A change to a driving licence photocard costs £20, but the unwary have paid as much as £50 for the same service on a copycat site.

Consumers have parted with £23 for a European health insurance card (Ehic), which are issued for free by official bodies, and £16 for the London congestion charge, when the Transport for London official fee is £10. Replacement birth certificates cost £9.25 – but on the copycat sites cost as much as £23.

But this week it became clear that Google has now dropped the vast majority of the sites from its advertising programme following intense public pressure. If you tap "passport" into Google, the first result is the official gov.uk site, not sites such as UK-passport.net or passportUK.com.

There are no longer adverts for passport services along the top of the Google page or down the side. The sites still exist – but they appear a long way below the official government ones. Google says it has worked with the Government Digital Service and Transport for London to investigate whether third-party sites are simply mimicking government services or genuinely offering added value, and as a result a lot of the sites no longer appear in its advertising.

Theo Bertram, head of policy at Google UK, said: "We want to be serving ads that our users find useful. Working with the government and TfL we have been able to better enforce our existing policies and protect users from misleading websites."

The move follows increasing pressure on the search engine giant for hosting the sites. In February, pressed by MP George Galloway, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude told the Commons that the government was taking action against websites masquerading as legitimate government services and which deliberately underplayed the services people can get for free or at a lower cost from official sources. He said the Government Digital Service was working with search engines such as Google, "to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate".

But Google's action c omes too late for victims of taxreturngateway.com. In January, taxpayers filling in last-minute self-assessment forms online found themselves paying hundreds of pounds to a copycat website which they claimed had lured them into thinking it was the official HMRC website. It is thought that thousands of taxpayers lost out, some by as much as £1,300 each.

Protesters asked Google to take the site down, but it only went offline just before the end of the self-assessment deadline. Victims who have sought to obtain their money back since have had little success.

In February, Money unmasked the "Mr Big" of the copycat websites: Stephen Oliver of East Boldon, near Sunderland, who operated taxreturngateway.com alongside a string of other sites.

In various guises, Oliver persuaded people to pay £29 to apply for Ehics; £172 for UK passports; £79 to apply for a US visa that costs $14 (£8.45) on the official site; £130 for a national insurance number which is free on the official site; and £85 for driving licence renewals that cost £24.50 at the post office.

Guardian Money began its campaign against the copycat sites in June 2013, and in December we awarded the dubious honour of "scam of the year" to the rip-off sites. We consistently argued that Google should switch off the ability of copycat sites to buy space above the search results for official government services. After 10 months, Google appears to have taken heed, though loopholes remain. A search for "national insurance number" still produces a page where commercial sites sit above the official HMRC information listing.

Google says consumers can submit complaints about misleading ads to its Adwords feedback.