It turns out that clicking on an Internet ad will not, in fact, win you a free laptop.

Member Source Media, an online advertising firm, reached a $200,000 settlement this week with the Federal Trade Commission for using what the FTC described as "deceptive" spam and ads to draw users to its Web sites. Commonly, the commission says, Member Source Media would send out spam e-mails that promised prizes such as a free iPod or a $500 Visa gift card. Additionally, the company would pay for ads on Web sites that told users that they had been chosen to win similar prizes. (Learn about Antispam products from our Messaging Security Buyer's Guide.)

But on clicking on the ads or the URLs embedded in the e-mails, users would be directed to Web sites that offered them the promised products only if they browsed several pages of optional offers, the FTC reports. After doing this, the commission says, the consumers were then told they must participate in third-party promotions "that require them to do things such as purchase products, subscribe to satellite television service or apply for multiple credit cards."

Under the settlement with the FTC, Member Source Media will pay a $200,000 civil penalty and will be required to "clearly and conspicuously and conspicuously disclose in its ads and on its promotional Web pages" that consumers must actually spend money before they receive their "free" product. The settlement also bars any future violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, which the FTC claims prohibits using deceptive subject lines in promotional e-mails.

Member Source Media bills itself as a privately held company that was "built on the premise that positive results in the online market place can only come from experience," and has partnerships with big-name companies such as Discover Card, Columbia House and Blockbuster. A Member Source Media spokesperson says the company is pleased it has reached a settlement from the FTC but denies it sent any of the spam e-mails the FTC claims it sent. The company says it has no knowledge of who sent the e-mails and claims they weren't in any way authorized by the company. The spokesperson acknowledges the company was responsible for the Web ads that the FTC claims were deceptive, but maintains its ads were in compliance with federal regulations. The spokesperson also says the company is glad that the FTC is "clarifying" its regulations and emphasizes that Member Source Media now is complying with them.

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