Websites are sending consumers to expensive help lines to get information that they can find for free from official sources, premium rate watchdog PhonepayPlus has found.
The regulator has identified a number of websites that have high search engine rankings offering access to information that is available elsewhere at a cheaper rate or for free through 09 numbers which can cost up to £1.53 a minute.
The sites provide phone helpline numbers for anything from government departments to customer service lines for high street retail stores. The information they provide can usually be found for free from official phone lines or online.
PhonepayPlus has fined two businesses £50,000 each for misleading consumers and failing to make the price of calling a premium rate number clear to them.
The rule-breaking companies use internet marketing and search engine optimisation techniques to get their pages to the top of search results. Consumers who find theses numbers can be fooled into thinking they are calling official sources.
PhonepayPlus CEO Paul Whiteing says: “These fines show that we are serious about clamping down on such websites that can mislead consumers. We are aware that the people behind such sites have become adept at using search engine marketing to push these sites to the top of the pile when a consumer uses search engines to find numbers.
“We have already worked with DirectGov to forward a number of sites to Google and Bing when these sites use premium rate numbers for information available for free from the government, and we continue to look for ways to work with search engine providers to stop activity that causes consumer harm.”
The consumer group Which? informed PhonepayPlus about a number of services offering premium rate numbers for information on child benefit that appear in the sponsored links at the top of search engine results. Although the official HMRC website came top of the natural search results, Which? questioned whether consumers should have to pay an inflated price for a service they have already paid for through a publicly funded body.
A PhonepayPlus spokesperson told Which?: “PhonepayPlus is working with DirectGov and government departments to provide search engine companies with details of sites that add little value to the consumer, charging for information that is freely available elsewhere or a premium fee for a government service without offering an additional service. Google and Bing have both indicated that as a result of information received, some of those sites break their advertising rules and are no longer allowed to participate in their sponsored ads.”
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