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Google shut down the accounts responsible for the deception when PCWorld approached the search giant this week. Google representatives wouldn't disclose how they were tricked into accepting the ads, which violate their guidelines. But a source within the advertising industry familiar with this type of scheme said he suspects that the rogue company or companies involved knew the Internet Protocol addresses used by the Google employees charged with checking the validity of new ads. (The source asked not to be identified to protect his position in the industry.) Using that information, the company could show Google employees one site, while anyone from the general public who clicked the sponsored link would go to a different page.

The failure of Google to detect the bogus ads should disturb consumers, says online marketing expert Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "These ads are clearly attempting to deceive the consumer into thinking the offers are from Best Buy or whatever the brand," Edelman says. "A free gift card scam is innocuous relative to the harm that could be done by spoofing a financial institution." But, Edelman says, "If Best Buy can be spoofed, why can't Bank of America?"

This image leads to fake McDonald's ad.

Google spokesperson Jim Prosser says that several advertisers' accounts had immediately been shut down as a result of PCWorld's inquiries. "We have engineering teams and systems that work to proactively prevent violations of our advertising policies, and we work quickly to review, suspend, or remove ads when we are notified of potential violations," Prosser says. "That's what we've done with the accounts you've mentioned. We also take strong action to inform authorities, and have taken legal action ourselves against scams that attempt to trick users."

PCWorld attempted to contact the companies listed on the gift card offers that we found over the course of this investigation. The companies listed on the ads were Better-Gifts.net, DirectSurveySolutions.com, Tester-Rewards.com, eSolutionsMedia.net, FoodCritic101.com, I-Deal Direct, and Top Notch Media.

Only Top Notch Media--which was tied to free gift card offers associated with bogus Google ads for the brands Hooters, Ikea, and Whole Foods Market--replied to our inquiries. The company's e-mail response states: "We have identified this traffic partner and subsequently terminated this traffic source to all of our Topnotch-media.com websites. Please note this ad placement is in violation of our traffic agreement and we do not want traffic generated in this manner." The company did not identify the "traffic partner" involved.

Why are free gift card offers a danger to Web consumers? Because they're often used to convince people to give out valuable personal information--data that they sell to marketers who use it to inundate the unlucky consumers with targeted advertising. In many cases, the consumers never receive the gift card that they thought they were in line for. If the offers come from large brands that people trust, individuals are likely to be more inclined to participate.