The latest case report from Keoghs makes interesting reading. Bogus results on Google are not a new thing and it’s taking far too long for regulators to demand search engines deliver the actual company or official govt organisation as the top result. Placing ads above organic search results is misleading consumers, let’s be clear about that, and it’s a game that needs to stop. Especially when people are in shock or stressed following a road traffic collision.
In an automated AI world how can Google or other search engines accept adverts containing the trading name of other companies, rather than the ones booking the ads? If you added a cross-referencing function in the dev code so that only one company name, matched to email or website of the company booking the ad, was allowed per ad entry, then that would stop the booking. You could also add a forbidden text list so that anyone trying to book an ad using a govt dept like DVLA, NHS etc needed to confirm ID by other means.
Here’s the word from Keoghs;
Keoghs and AXA have been successful in denying an attempt by a credit hire organisation (CHO) to claim unrecovered hire charges from a consumer who was the victim of Google-spoofing fraud.
The CHO, which was found by the court to be in ‘serious breach’ of the FCA’s consumer protection principles, had all claims against AXA’s policyholder dismissed and has been ordered to cover legal costs for both sides.
Following a road traffic collision on 13 May 2021, for which the consumer was not at fault, AXA’s policyholder searched via Google for a telephone number to report the incident to his insurer. After dialling what he thought was a legitimate number and the first result on the Google search page, he got through to a credit hire organisation, unrelated to AXA or its affiliates.
Speaking with an operative while still at the roadside, AXA’s policyholder wrongly assumed he was entering into an agreement with his insurer, when in fact he had signed a contract with the CHO. Without fully understanding that he was not talking with his insurer, he entered into the legal agreement that included payment obligations for hire, recovery, storage and an engineer’s report. A transcript of the call demonstrated that the signing process from receipt of agreement to return to the CHO took a matter of seconds and was completed there and then at the scene of the incident.
CHO DECIDED TO GO LEGAL ON THE ACCIDENT VICTIM
Once it was revealed that the consumer was not dealing with his insurer and had been the victim of a Google-spoof ad, he no longer co-operated. The CHO then made the decision to take the customer to court to recover 100% of its costs, which was ultimately defeated by Keoghs and AXA. Given the ad’s web address contained their name, AXA also successfully requested it be removed for breaching Google’s terms and conditions.
As Sarah Moat, Partner at Keoghs explains: “We were able to use the unusual circumstances in this case, whereby the innocent policyholder was taken to court by a CHO, to test the FCA’s Principles in context of Google-Spoof ads. The decision in court clearly shows that CHO’s are required to treat consumers fairly and communicate clearly at all times and particularly when customers fall victim to these scams, and while in vulnerable circumstances like in the moments following an accident.”
Deborah Talbot, Senior Operational Manager, AXA said: “Protecting what matters most to our customers is our priority and in this case we were able to provide support when our customer’s consumer rights had been breached. He fell for a realistic fraudulent Google ad and entered into a legal agreement he didn’t understand.
“The successful result of this case reinforces to the industry that CHOs have a legal obligation not to misrepresent themselves to customers, especially at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.”
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