Disgruntled internet users are being invited to join a class
action lawsuit in the US against Bonzi Software, a company
responsible for internet banner ads that are designed to look like
error messages to encourage users to click them.
According to Lukins and Annis, the law firm which is
representing consumers before the Superior Court of Spokane County,
Bonzi Software is among the world's most prolific issuers of
internet banner ads, and its web site has been ranked among the
world's most frequently visited.
The allegation is that Bonzi "deceptively and fraudulently
commandeered millions of internet users to Bonzi's commercial web
sites through dissemination of tens of millions of fraudulent
internet advertising banners that impersonated computer error
messages."
Using what the firm calls Fake User Interfaces (FUIs), the ads
appear as interface elements, such as dropdown menus, search boxes
or computer and system error messages, to trick users into clicking
on them.
