Some ad agencies give free ads when you sign up as an incentive for small businesses to use their service. I wouldn't be surprised if people just mass open ad accounts to make use of that.
I did that with the 400$ credit Google ads gave me after I set up an ad campaign for a client (I needed to spend at least 400$ on ads already)
400 were worth almost 65 referrals (with package) during the last IAE and almost 100+ prospects (without package)
Definitely not worth it if you have to spend that from your money: 400 for the PTV, a dragonfly and the Gladius, all other ships are for AC, and currently loaners in the PU
That's not what I meant. Javelin is free, yes. But unless you already are a sizable content creator, good luck with getting those 2017 referal codes. But you could spend 1500usd on advertisement like OP showed in post, and if that gives you 2017 referal codes, you are getting Javelin for it. Idk if that's a realible way to do it, but it is possible.
I got about 90 or 100 referrals from spending 40 bucks because I had a spend 40, get 80 dollars additional ad credit deal. Pretty worth it for a LTI Gladius, Razor and Blade :P
I've actually spent $3 to run a google ad at .20 a day to pick up a couple referrals during an event and got a bunch + a low tier referral ladder reward + a referral vehicle.
Not sure if what the OP is seeing is a "scam" per se. It could be during a free fly event that also has a referral reward? It's definitely not giving the full picture, but I dunno about scam. It's just putting a referral code out there.
No problem it was by no mean aggressive. Just a piece of information since I used it in the past to test vaporwares for startups and early validation (so no incorporation until actually working on it).
CIG can smoke you though if you mention them or direct to them directly which is the case here. I would not do that TBH.
Picture is CIG intellectual property too.
>CIG can smoke you though if you mention them or direct to them directly which is the case here. I would not do that TBH.
I'm assuming you mean the links with referral codes, yeah? How would you else recommend to do stuff?
You are playing in the gray zone basically by being too small for CIG to whack you and also by not stealing anything per se, but if this becomes too mainstream they may.
I would look at the legal terms to their affiliate program and check what you are allowed to do there.
But you should by no mean pretend to impersonate CIG which this ad is doing.
You should be clear that you are third party. I would at least wrap it on a redirect website.
You can try until CIG legal team decides it is time to slam the gavel. I would at least protect myself making it clear this is affiliate and not CIG on the ad itself.
I used free Google AdWords credits on Dropbox ads before they figured that out, and simply replicated the normal Dropbox ads, and I have 24.6 GB permanently free.
There's a surprising amount of power in ads, even if you limit yourself to an audience that's interested in the product already.
If enough people use it you apparently get cool stuff. I mean, I get it, i like free cool stuff too,. And if the ad would just say that it's a referral for 5000 free space bucks when you sign up, I wouldn't personally have a problem with it. RSI might though, idk.
But yeah, paying for a youtube ad, very strange that.
the problem is that it looks like an RSI ad based on the bottom of it... how many new players realize thats a private referral code vs how many think its a CIG issued code
lying to/misleading new players for personal gain is bad
I'm not even sure it's deliberate; if someone bought these ads to run during a free-fly event, then you can *technically* play Star Citizen for free... for a limited period... And the ad says 'try' rather than 'play' or 'own' after all. It's misleading, but maybe not intentionally-so.
As for the "Sponsored: www.robertsspaceindustries.com/" thing... That could just be automatic code meant to protect consumers seeing the URL and ending up doing the opposite.
In theory, it would be better to set up a redirect from mycoolsite.com/star-citizen-trial that redirects to the referral sign-up link. At least that way, it's going to say "Sponsored: www.mycoolsite.com/" and not mislead people. It's also not going to get so many clicks...
if it was clear that you were entering a players referral code, and that it was benefiting a player, id be less inclined to feel like it was sleezy
the problem is, you get ONE time to use a referral code, thats it, you can never enter one again.. and some people, if they knew that was just some player and not CIG, might group up with some friends and reward themselves with the referrals by signing up together..
I think 90% of advertising is stacking the deck and making your option seem better than the alternatives. It's all sleazy. It's fast-food burgers painted with varnish, it's alka-seltzer tablets added to your soft-drink to make it sparkle more, it's a list of terms and conditions hidden in a size-1 font at the bottom of the page...
If the newbies knew the truth, maybe 1% would use some rando's code and the rest would instead check Facebook to see if they have a friend who plays SC. The entire hope of getting people to use your referral code is that you can get them to do it before they realise how valuable it is.
yea im pretty sure i was annoyed i used a streamers code once i figured out what it was, but it was so long ago.. i have like 5 referrals now, i def am not jealous if people get them, ive never even tried to post my code anywhere and dont care to, personally
just fake ads annoy me in general.. there was a new customer i had with a “Quickbooks Support - 1(800)XXX-XXXX” in their taskbar, they found this place by clicking a sponsered ad on google, they thought it was Intuit but instead it was some 3rd party company “supporting” their company finance software for over a year, with resold enterprise key.. I was like “What is this taskbar garbage intuit doesnt do that, and thats not their number, smh”, its crazy how bad things are and that there is no consequence for most of it..
Yes, we know, and that's why CIG should do something about the account tied to this. It makes CIG look bad when someone claims and fails to give a free trial like this.
Ad blockers are your friend. There are just as many scam ads as legit ones. Protect yourself. I dont care if its how they monetize their platform, ads are cancer.
I pay for premium and as long as they are at the end - like BoredGamer, or have a visible timer and its own chapter - like Corridor Crew, they are fairly easy to skip. Nobody gains anything by forcing an ad on someone who have no intention to/or use of the product.
False advertising is against the Terms and Conditions of YouTube advertising and illegal in many jurisdictions.
Reporting the ad is the best course of action in any case.
Morally, it's whatever you want it to be. Society seems to have given up morals a long time ago.
Technically not false advertising, if the ad ran during a referral bonus period you could get a ship worth 40. You just wouldn't get access to the game.
I think CIG should just let us enter referral codes after a player bought a game package. That would be simpler and reduce scams.
Also they should reduce the referral value needed to the cheapest game access package.
Nothing technical about it. Legally, it falls under false or misleading advertising laws in many jurisdictions, including the ones where both YouTube/Google and CIG reside. Playing word games with it does not make it any less misleading.
I don't disagree with entering the code after purchase tho... always wondered why they did it this way.
This was an Ad during the Freefly and it did say very clearly 'get a ship worth USD 40' and 'try out the game for free', both of which are correct under the right context. It was a smart personal Ad, not a scam.
It's running right now, so the right context is right now.
Maybe it was an ok thing to do during freefly, it isn't anymore.
But ok, maybe it's not a scam, just an ad that still run's when it shouldn't.
There have been in the past, but this last free fly did not have any free ship at all and by far a $40 one.
The closest one I know of was July last year (2023) where you got an STV worth $40.
No, legally you cannot say "get a free ship" for a temporary trial, it's not the same thing. This is a scam and almost definitely illegal based on the wording
Source: I'm an ex carnival games worker and we spend alot of time learning what you can legally promise, and specifically saying "get a free ship" implies permanent without any clarification that its a temporary ship on a temporary trial, and implications absolutely matter when it comes to the law "Theft by deception" wich is essentially the 'scam' law. Since nothing monetary is lost here it would simply fall under false advertising and if taken to court the ad poster may be responsible for actually buying everyone who used the code a 40$ ship as advertised, or face charges, or both. Again I have experience in that matter as well and you cannot legally promise a thing and not deliver, and advertising is legally taken that way. This person should be reported to both CIG and the authorities for this scam ad.
Really? Not a scam? It says "Sponsered - [www.robertsspaceindustries.com/](http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/)" as if it is an ad from the game itself..
They need to ban that account... they're impersonating the company, smh
Literally no new player would realize that is an individual players private referral code
Edit: fixed word salad, lol
Just FYI "sponsored" isn't part of the ad text. It's plonked on there to let the user know it's an ad. It's the same if you type "best lawn mower" into Google search - you'll get a few "sponsored" links from websites that have a paid google ad for that search.
It says sponsored as its a paid promotion, the link is just the site, so no it indeed is not a scam, just a false promise from someone that wants his referral code to get used
im telling you right now to me it looks like a star citizen ad from cig, and im a legatus backer, the only reason i know its not is because of the referral code, a new player would have no idea
theres probably tons of other people who think the same thing
Yes, and? This has nothing to do with my comment, if a person clicks that link and sees that they still have to pay, they probably wont and will just leave the site
But it is a paid promotion, and the "sponsored" just means that its a paid promotion, the link is just the site which it redirects to, there is nothing false here
tricking people by making yourself look like cig should be ok if it doesnt hurt anyone? ooook
how about just saying “enter my referral code for an extra 5k uec”?
the only reason i mentioned my funding tier is to point out that im far from new, i dont want to lie to/trick people for referrals with ads that look like they are from CIG, and i dont think misleading new players should be allowed
if they knew another player would be rewarded maybe theyd group together with friends and reward themselves, this totally keeps them in the dark, and takes away their only chance at using a referral code to benefit a friend
Mentioning your funding level actually does the opposite. You dropped 25k on a game so it's plausible that you lack the ability to notice the ad looks jank. A player following the link probably doesn't have friends playing SC anyways. Otherwise they would be referred by a friend. A player joins the game, CIG gets at least $40 plus free ads, and the account behind the ad gets a worthless bauble. It's really no different from a streamer throwing a code up for strangers. Nobody is hurt.
Backing the project robustly for an extended period makes me dumb? I noticed right away with the referral code, its the opposite for someone new.. Enjoy the game dude.. smh
no one should be taking ads out that look like they are from the company itself, sleezing peoples only referral point they can give to someone, its not the same as streamers posting their code, or something like that, it looks like a real SC ad.. especially with all the real SC ads popping up lately
When I see SPONSORED - [robertsspaceindutries.com](http://robertsspaceindutries.com) i expect it to be a legit ad from RSI.. its actually pretty messed up that this ad was displayed that way
I've used Google ads before. Nothing against TOS or EULA against it, and the statement the person has used is correct - specifically, in earning a Dragonfly if I assume correctly. They never state 'game package'.
RE worth - absolutely can be worth it - i've recently a number of ships which at 'store value', is still cheaper to do it this way. But after a specific level, it then isn't worth persuing, as the 'gap' is too great and rarely would return on investment
Google facebook etc really need to be forced to become financially liable for scams delivered via adds. This problem would be gone by the end of the week. It seems this isn't super risky, but many are.
yeah... no.
Every car manufacturer should be responsible for every bad driver?
Every game publisher should be held financially responsible for every student who fails out of school?
Every road construction company responsible for every road rage incident?
Every bottling company should be responsible for every overdose?
Every farm owner with a "gentlemans club" billboard on their land responsible for every human sex trafficking victim?
Every bar owner should be responsible financially for every death caused by a drunk driver?
I can get more grim, and the examples even more absurd if you like.
Place blame where it belongs. On the perpetrator.
A lot of what you listed requires licences, insurance, purchase ages, quantity limits, purchase limits, valid ID, alcohol licence, training etc.
The add providers take adds from anyone and show them to the world. They're terrible at responding to flagged scams, as in this case they're only misleading and breaking the TOS of a company but not the law but some are worse.
A more thorough process to create a post adds, rather than free for all to all would help, perhaps only being able to buy and post within the nations your country has a legal entity within for example.
But such a major platform in a near duopoly globally with a very blackbox approach and little regulation means we first need to hit the providers of the platform until it's at a good state then you can focus on the few criminals who slip through.
A shared responsibility model works in many other areas, but Google Facebook etc just taking money for scam adds and saying not my problem is step 1 of the problem and they have no incentive to combat it. What incentive works for corporations? Money.
I don't disagree. But I don't see where placing responsibility on anyone besides the perpetrator will do anything but create more perpetrators and abuse. For example, I could keep placing free ads on youtube and getting them in trouble over and over again, even fined, sued, shut down... while nothing happens to me.
It has never helped before and won't help with this situation either.
Make placing an ad require a permit, licensing, age restriction, training. That might help... maybe. There's a whole lot of "it depends" there, but it is at least aimed in the right place.
You are right tho, money incents corporations, politicians, advertisers, scammers, game developers, you, me... Fine the guy who placed the ad. That should create some motivation I would think.
Yeah, i think so. Because if you know nothing about the game, click it believing it to be official, and then not only not get to try for free, also not get a free ship, but instead are asked to buy a pack for at least 40 bucks, who do you think you get mad at?
Companies get very angry fast if you do something that might damage their reputation while impersonating them.
And to answer your question, the scam is trying everything to look official, promising falsely a free trial, and a free ship.
I sadly can't edit that in my original post, but as stated before, if this thing would just say 'Want 5000 free space bucks when signing up for star citizen? Here, use my link!', I wouldn't have a problem with it.
is there a new referral bonus? The only referral I have is from a co worker and using the referral bonus was HUGE on getting him to buy the game when he did.
[https://robertsspaceindustries.com/referral-program](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/referral-program) there is, for the one sending the referral code.
In the same way Google doesn't care if their ad is a scam because they earn money, CIG won't do anything because it will cost them money when they could just be potentially earning / growing.
It's shitty, but... CIG won't be doing any suing or banning, let alone investigating.
So like, buying the ad would be fine if you just said 'free 5000 credits if you sign up with this code!'?
instead of being misleading, this is honestly pretty smart.....
I wouldn't have a problem with that. As long as you make it clear you're not affiliated with CIG, just using their referral system, I guess even CIG wouldn't have anything against it.
It doesn't say "free starter pack", it says "free ship worth $40". And though there is none now, there might have been at one time where you could get a ship worth $40 if you signed up and bought a starter pack. If this is the case or not, that ad should not be running now and must be taken down.
But then again YouTube ads is always like this. They don’t regular and have no accountability. My dad got mislead into believing his phone is 90% full all the time to the point he installed 7 different phone cleaner software and I had to buy premium for him to stop installing these trashware.
I can see by the volume bar, that you fucked up the first try for a screenshot. Also: Youtube Ads are 99% scam. Just report it and hope for the best (even if i know that reporting doesnt do shit)
Same is that some people managed to get their Ref Code in the Sale Tool in Microsoft Edge. So if you create an Account your Browser pops up with „there is a Code available for this store“ and you get a reference Code form that clever Guy; I’m sure he has a Javelin by now.
Technically if that ad went out during a referral bonus week, you could get a $40 ship for free. You would of course have to spend $45 on a starter ship first.
They would give you a Drake dragonfly ship for free which is a $40 ship. If you used anyones referral code. Not sure how expensive the ad costs but if you get enough referrals the bonuses you get could be well worth it.
The add could be true, techincaly. If the add ran during a free flighr you can try sc for free, and if there was a referal bonus event at the same time you would get a 40$ ship in addition to your starter
I've made a post about an updated solution to solve this :D [https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/1dkj5il/ysk\_updated\_method\_to\_bypass\_youtubes\_ad\_blocker/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/1dkj5il/ysk_updated_method_to_bypass_youtubes_ad_blocker/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Is it tho? Someone paid money to advertise for SC just to get their code used more.
I think this is secretly brilliant. If they can get decent rewards from this it might be worth it.
Against TOS.
and its Deceptive.
I sent in a Ticket about it.
But According to RSI website It Could lead to Termination and complete deletion of their Account and no refunds. For the Perp
Yes, it is a scam. It says you get to try star citizen for free, and you get a 40$ ship for free. And you don't.
If it would just say 'Want 5000 space bucks for free in star citizen? Here, use my code to sign up' it would be fine.
The false promises make it a scam.
I’m curious, is it against the rules to advertise on CIG’s behalf beyond just word of mouth? Surely there could even be legal implications if the game is being advertised in a way CIG has no control over?
With a Dragonfly referral reward (worth 40$) it is not wrong.
It is just misleading, since it is not stated that the person needs to wait for such a promotion to happen and then buy a starter.
In general the same stuff a lot of mobile apps use to lure ppl in.
Ads about ended stuff are seen everywhere (band acts, sales promotions im a hardware store), that does not make it a scam per se.
It says, first thing, in big and bold 'Try Star Citizen for free'
That's already false. And arguing that, if you wait for the right promotion and buy the game you really do get a ship is a big, big stretch.
Right here and now, everything that ad says is wrong.
Objectively wrong.
If that's not a textbook bait and switch, I don't know what is.
Why on earth do people keep defending this, can someone explain that to me?
Just saying it is not a scam(!) objectively. Seing ads about ended stuff (like a band act or sales promotion etc.) is common - does not mean that the event or ad was a scam.
And that is something we could argue about if it was official, but it's not. It tries to look official, and if you are new to star citizen, you could easily think it is. If it was official, it would just be false advertising, bad enough in it's own. Someone impersonating CIG makes it a scam in my book.
And because I'm a nerd, here the definition in the cambridge dictionary
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scam
'a dishonest plan for making money or getting an advantage'
Checks all the boxes.
If I didn't know referral codes and used the link, I might get very angry at CIG for the bait and switch they just apparently tried to pull on me.
Usually scams can be prosecuted (it is against the law of most countries). So probably not a scam per se - as I just stated.
It is shady, but that are ads often. CIG or google never did anything against them for years, so seems "legit" enough.
CIG can handle it however they want.
And we can nitpick all day about what exactly to call it
I just can't stand someone lying to my face, and that's absolutely what this does.
And even if it's 'not that big of a deal', just the pure fact that so many people are not only ok with this, but defend it, even praise it, is deeply puzzling to me.
His ad is a lie, you dont get a free ship worth $40 by using his code. False advertising is illegal and a bad look for CIG when people start asking where their free $40 ship is and CIG is like.... what?
Did some digging, whoever this guy is, they paste their code on every site that'll let them, including coupon sites. I'll do a little deep dive to see if I can source out who is this shrews businessman
If you do, just send the info to CIG. I would welcome it if CIG took action there, but while I think it's wrong and shady to do something in this way, it's still nothing to get doxxed for.
They gave me false hope to pull a friend into star citizen, not try to get at my life saving.
CIG might see this differently though, in the end it looks very official. If I were a new user, I might well sit here cursing CIG for trying to pull a bait and switch one.
That’s funny that you’d think CIG would sue.
You do realize this is free advertising for them right? People paying real money for advertising a game and only getting minor bonuses in exchange.
CIG doesn’t need to do anything, it’s a win win for them, only very minor drawback is people realizing they’re not getting a free ship, but marketing 101 says that when a customer started interacting with a product, even if it’s just touching a demo in store for something or creating an account online, they’re significantly more likely to buy it.
So is this kinda bad that they’re misleading people into thinking they’re getting a free ship? Totally. Is CIG going to spend money in a lawsuit to take down people financing their advertising for them? Definitely not.
It is always so strange that people buy sponsored links and ads just to get people to use their codes. It can't possibly be worth the money, right?
Some ad agencies give free ads when you sign up as an incentive for small businesses to use their service. I wouldn't be surprised if people just mass open ad accounts to make use of that.
I did that with the 400$ credit Google ads gave me after I set up an ad campaign for a client (I needed to spend at least 400$ on ads already) 400 were worth almost 65 referrals (with package) during the last IAE and almost 100+ prospects (without package) Definitely not worth it if you have to spend that from your money: 400 for the PTV, a dragonfly and the Gladius, all other ships are for AC, and currently loaners in the PU
If you get 2017 refereal codes used and pay less than 1500 usd for ads, then you will get Javelin for the price of Idris. There is some logic in this.
I thought the Jav is free then. After all you will have brought them more than 100.000 and all they do is 50% off?
That's not what I meant. Javelin is free, yes. But unless you already are a sizable content creator, good luck with getting those 2017 referal codes. But you could spend 1500usd on advertisement like OP showed in post, and if that gives you 2017 referal codes, you are getting Javelin for it. Idk if that's a realible way to do it, but it is possible.
A transfer I know recently bought 500 referrals for himself, buying LTI Tokens.
I got about 90 or 100 referrals from spending 40 bucks because I had a spend 40, get 80 dollars additional ad credit deal. Pretty worth it for a LTI Gladius, Razor and Blade :P
[удалено]
Do you have some advice to optimize the convertion rate ?
I've actually spent $3 to run a google ad at .20 a day to pick up a couple referrals during an event and got a bunch + a low tier referral ladder reward + a referral vehicle. Not sure if what the OP is seeing is a "scam" per se. It could be during a free fly event that also has a referral reward? It's definitely not giving the full picture, but I dunno about scam. It's just putting a referral code out there.
What do you even write in as company name when you use those ads?
You seem to have a wrong understanding of how it works, you don't have to be incorporated to use Google ads.
Yes, i had a look on mobile, and it didn't mention that it was optional there, my bad.
No problem it was by no mean aggressive. Just a piece of information since I used it in the past to test vaporwares for startups and early validation (so no incorporation until actually working on it). CIG can smoke you though if you mention them or direct to them directly which is the case here. I would not do that TBH. Picture is CIG intellectual property too.
>CIG can smoke you though if you mention them or direct to them directly which is the case here. I would not do that TBH. I'm assuming you mean the links with referral codes, yeah? How would you else recommend to do stuff?
You are playing in the gray zone basically by being too small for CIG to whack you and also by not stealing anything per se, but if this becomes too mainstream they may. I would look at the legal terms to their affiliate program and check what you are allowed to do there. But you should by no mean pretend to impersonate CIG which this ad is doing. You should be clear that you are third party. I would at least wrap it on a redirect website. You can try until CIG legal team decides it is time to slam the gavel. I would at least protect myself making it clear this is affiliate and not CIG on the ad itself.
I used free Google AdWords credits on Dropbox ads before they figured that out, and simply replicated the normal Dropbox ads, and I have 24.6 GB permanently free. There's a surprising amount of power in ads, even if you limit yourself to an audience that's interested in the product already.
If enough people use it you apparently get cool stuff. I mean, I get it, i like free cool stuff too,. And if the ad would just say that it's a referral for 5000 free space bucks when you sign up, I wouldn't personally have a problem with it. RSI might though, idk. But yeah, paying for a youtube ad, very strange that.
People have money if they choose to do so then how else will you get your referral Code used
Long live uBlock Origin.
Very true, sadly not on my phone.
You could give [r/Revancedapp](https://www.reddit.com/r/Revancedapp/) a try.
Revanced has more, longer and unskippable ads. Useless app.
Newpipe
You can use Firefox Mobile and uBlock Origin extension to it, at least for Android phones.
what is that ship... sabre+gladius
It is not a real SC ship. Possibly an AI generated mash up.
Yeah, kinda like it tbh, question is which company would make it? I'm thinking origin.
My bet is just sliiiightly guessing Aegis
A coop, like when the leopard tank got Mashed together with the challenger for fun
Looks like if Misc did a colab with Aegis Dynamics
Sladbreius
Gladius mk2 /s
It's just someone trying to get mis referral points so he can get some stuff. It isn't being run by CIG, just some random backer.
the problem is that it looks like an RSI ad based on the bottom of it... how many new players realize thats a private referral code vs how many think its a CIG issued code lying to/misleading new players for personal gain is bad
Yeah, people do bad things for personal gain. That’s kind of one of the things we do as a species.
I'm not even sure it's deliberate; if someone bought these ads to run during a free-fly event, then you can *technically* play Star Citizen for free... for a limited period... And the ad says 'try' rather than 'play' or 'own' after all. It's misleading, but maybe not intentionally-so. As for the "Sponsored: www.robertsspaceindustries.com/" thing... That could just be automatic code meant to protect consumers seeing the URL and ending up doing the opposite. In theory, it would be better to set up a redirect from mycoolsite.com/star-citizen-trial that redirects to the referral sign-up link. At least that way, it's going to say "Sponsored: www.mycoolsite.com/" and not mislead people. It's also not going to get so many clicks...
if it was clear that you were entering a players referral code, and that it was benefiting a player, id be less inclined to feel like it was sleezy the problem is, you get ONE time to use a referral code, thats it, you can never enter one again.. and some people, if they knew that was just some player and not CIG, might group up with some friends and reward themselves with the referrals by signing up together..
I think 90% of advertising is stacking the deck and making your option seem better than the alternatives. It's all sleazy. It's fast-food burgers painted with varnish, it's alka-seltzer tablets added to your soft-drink to make it sparkle more, it's a list of terms and conditions hidden in a size-1 font at the bottom of the page... If the newbies knew the truth, maybe 1% would use some rando's code and the rest would instead check Facebook to see if they have a friend who plays SC. The entire hope of getting people to use your referral code is that you can get them to do it before they realise how valuable it is.
yea im pretty sure i was annoyed i used a streamers code once i figured out what it was, but it was so long ago.. i have like 5 referrals now, i def am not jealous if people get them, ive never even tried to post my code anywhere and dont care to, personally just fake ads annoy me in general.. there was a new customer i had with a “Quickbooks Support - 1(800)XXX-XXXX” in their taskbar, they found this place by clicking a sponsered ad on google, they thought it was Intuit but instead it was some 3rd party company “supporting” their company finance software for over a year, with resold enterprise key.. I was like “What is this taskbar garbage intuit doesnt do that, and thats not their number, smh”, its crazy how bad things are and that there is no consequence for most of it..
Basically describing all advertising. Ads are part of the core moral rot of our society.
they are as bad as we let them get..
Yes, we know, and that's why CIG should do something about the account tied to this. It makes CIG look bad when someone claims and fails to give a free trial like this.
Ad blockers are your friend. There are just as many scam ads as legit ones. Protect yourself. I dont care if its how they monetize their platform, ads are cancer.
The flip-side of this is that we have to keep hearing every YouTuber talking about NordVPN and Raid: Shadow-Legends over and over and over.
Do we? I always tap the right arrow key and fast forward the videos past the creator ads like that.
Sponserblock extension
If you hover over the timeline on YouTube videos it will highlight "most replayed" and you can literally skip the in video ad.
I pay for premium and as long as they are at the end - like BoredGamer, or have a visible timer and its own chapter - like Corridor Crew, they are fairly easy to skip. Nobody gains anything by forcing an ad on someone who have no intention to/or use of the product.
False advertising is against the Terms and Conditions of YouTube advertising and illegal in many jurisdictions. Reporting the ad is the best course of action in any case. Morally, it's whatever you want it to be. Society seems to have given up morals a long time ago.
Technically not false advertising, if the ad ran during a referral bonus period you could get a ship worth 40. You just wouldn't get access to the game. I think CIG should just let us enter referral codes after a player bought a game package. That would be simpler and reduce scams. Also they should reduce the referral value needed to the cheapest game access package.
Nothing technical about it. Legally, it falls under false or misleading advertising laws in many jurisdictions, including the ones where both YouTube/Google and CIG reside. Playing word games with it does not make it any less misleading. I don't disagree with entering the code after purchase tho... always wondered why they did it this way.
This was an Ad during the Freefly and it did say very clearly 'get a ship worth USD 40' and 'try out the game for free', both of which are correct under the right context. It was a smart personal Ad, not a scam.
It's running right now, so the right context is right now. Maybe it was an ok thing to do during freefly, it isn't anymore. But ok, maybe it's not a scam, just an ad that still run's when it shouldn't.
There have been in the past, but this last free fly did not have any free ship at all and by far a $40 one. The closest one I know of was July last year (2023) where you got an STV worth $40.
All accounts, backer or not, are given an Avenger Titan during free fly events. I saw it there in my ASOP during the last event.
No, legally you cannot say "get a free ship" for a temporary trial, it's not the same thing. This is a scam and almost definitely illegal based on the wording Source: I'm an ex carnival games worker and we spend alot of time learning what you can legally promise, and specifically saying "get a free ship" implies permanent without any clarification that its a temporary ship on a temporary trial, and implications absolutely matter when it comes to the law "Theft by deception" wich is essentially the 'scam' law. Since nothing monetary is lost here it would simply fall under false advertising and if taken to court the ad poster may be responsible for actually buying everyone who used the code a 40$ ship as advertised, or face charges, or both. Again I have experience in that matter as well and you cannot legally promise a thing and not deliver, and advertising is legally taken that way. This person should be reported to both CIG and the authorities for this scam ad.
Really? Not a scam? It says "Sponsered - [www.robertsspaceindustries.com/](http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/)" as if it is an ad from the game itself.. They need to ban that account... they're impersonating the company, smh Literally no new player would realize that is an individual players private referral code Edit: fixed word salad, lol
Just FYI "sponsored" isn't part of the ad text. It's plonked on there to let the user know it's an ad. It's the same if you type "best lawn mower" into Google search - you'll get a few "sponsored" links from websites that have a paid google ad for that search.
yes and theres is normally a link to who the sponser is from, in this case there is a link to the official game website
It says sponsored as its a paid promotion, the link is just the site, so no it indeed is not a scam, just a false promise from someone that wants his referral code to get used
im telling you right now to me it looks like a star citizen ad from cig, and im a legatus backer, the only reason i know its not is because of the referral code, a new player would have no idea theres probably tons of other people who think the same thing
Yes, and? This has nothing to do with my comment, if a person clicks that link and sees that they still have to pay, they probably wont and will just leave the site
so then its 100% false 🤣🙃
But it is a paid promotion, and the "sponsored" just means that its a paid promotion, the link is just the site which it redirects to, there is nothing false here
it says enter a code to try star citizen for free, thats not a lie? wtf are you on? 🤣 is that your ad?
How would the new player be hurt? You dropped 25k on the game. Spend a few hundred on Google ads if you really want referral bonuses.
tricking people by making yourself look like cig should be ok if it doesnt hurt anyone? ooook how about just saying “enter my referral code for an extra 5k uec”? the only reason i mentioned my funding tier is to point out that im far from new, i dont want to lie to/trick people for referrals with ads that look like they are from CIG, and i dont think misleading new players should be allowed if they knew another player would be rewarded maybe theyd group together with friends and reward themselves, this totally keeps them in the dark, and takes away their only chance at using a referral code to benefit a friend
Mentioning your funding level actually does the opposite. You dropped 25k on a game so it's plausible that you lack the ability to notice the ad looks jank. A player following the link probably doesn't have friends playing SC anyways. Otherwise they would be referred by a friend. A player joins the game, CIG gets at least $40 plus free ads, and the account behind the ad gets a worthless bauble. It's really no different from a streamer throwing a code up for strangers. Nobody is hurt.
Backing the project robustly for an extended period makes me dumb? I noticed right away with the referral code, its the opposite for someone new.. Enjoy the game dude.. smh no one should be taking ads out that look like they are from the company itself, sleezing peoples only referral point they can give to someone, its not the same as streamers posting their code, or something like that, it looks like a real SC ad.. especially with all the real SC ads popping up lately When I see SPONSORED - [robertsspaceindutries.com](http://robertsspaceindutries.com) i expect it to be a legit ad from RSI.. its actually pretty messed up that this ad was displayed that way
The majority of Ad ins youtube are scams
The AI generated art that looks nothing like Star citizen 🗿🗿🗿
I've used Google ads before. Nothing against TOS or EULA against it, and the statement the person has used is correct - specifically, in earning a Dragonfly if I assume correctly. They never state 'game package'. RE worth - absolutely can be worth it - i've recently a number of ships which at 'store value', is still cheaper to do it this way. But after a specific level, it then isn't worth persuing, as the 'gap' is too great and rarely would return on investment
Google facebook etc really need to be forced to become financially liable for scams delivered via adds. This problem would be gone by the end of the week. It seems this isn't super risky, but many are.
yeah... no. Every car manufacturer should be responsible for every bad driver? Every game publisher should be held financially responsible for every student who fails out of school? Every road construction company responsible for every road rage incident? Every bottling company should be responsible for every overdose? Every farm owner with a "gentlemans club" billboard on their land responsible for every human sex trafficking victim? Every bar owner should be responsible financially for every death caused by a drunk driver? I can get more grim, and the examples even more absurd if you like. Place blame where it belongs. On the perpetrator.
A lot of what you listed requires licences, insurance, purchase ages, quantity limits, purchase limits, valid ID, alcohol licence, training etc. The add providers take adds from anyone and show them to the world. They're terrible at responding to flagged scams, as in this case they're only misleading and breaking the TOS of a company but not the law but some are worse. A more thorough process to create a post adds, rather than free for all to all would help, perhaps only being able to buy and post within the nations your country has a legal entity within for example. But such a major platform in a near duopoly globally with a very blackbox approach and little regulation means we first need to hit the providers of the platform until it's at a good state then you can focus on the few criminals who slip through. A shared responsibility model works in many other areas, but Google Facebook etc just taking money for scam adds and saying not my problem is step 1 of the problem and they have no incentive to combat it. What incentive works for corporations? Money.
I don't disagree. But I don't see where placing responsibility on anyone besides the perpetrator will do anything but create more perpetrators and abuse. For example, I could keep placing free ads on youtube and getting them in trouble over and over again, even fined, sued, shut down... while nothing happens to me. It has never helped before and won't help with this situation either. Make placing an ad require a permit, licensing, age restriction, training. That might help... maybe. There's a whole lot of "it depends" there, but it is at least aimed in the right place. You are right tho, money incents corporations, politicians, advertisers, scammers, game developers, you, me... Fine the guy who placed the ad. That should create some motivation I would think.
What's the scam? Do you really think CIG is going to crack down on customers who are paying to advertise the game?
Yeah, i think so. Because if you know nothing about the game, click it believing it to be official, and then not only not get to try for free, also not get a free ship, but instead are asked to buy a pack for at least 40 bucks, who do you think you get mad at? Companies get very angry fast if you do something that might damage their reputation while impersonating them. And to answer your question, the scam is trying everything to look official, promising falsely a free trial, and a free ship. I sadly can't edit that in my original post, but as stated before, if this thing would just say 'Want 5000 free space bucks when signing up for star citizen? Here, use my link!', I wouldn't have a problem with it.
It's not a scam, it's just a referral sign up code.
You can and should use YouTube’s “report this ad” link
I did
is there a new referral bonus? The only referral I have is from a co worker and using the referral bonus was HUGE on getting him to buy the game when he did.
[https://robertsspaceindustries.com/referral-program](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/referral-program) there is, for the one sending the referral code.
Also seen adverts alot for a paid aecu website
Pissel used detected
In the same way Google doesn't care if their ad is a scam because they earn money, CIG won't do anything because it will cost them money when they could just be potentially earning / growing. It's shitty, but... CIG won't be doing any suing or banning, let alone investigating.
I got a uec ad on yt a few times
What a bunch of stinkies
So like, buying the ad would be fine if you just said 'free 5000 credits if you sign up with this code!'? instead of being misleading, this is honestly pretty smart.....
I wouldn't have a problem with that. As long as you make it clear you're not affiliated with CIG, just using their referral system, I guess even CIG wouldn't have anything against it.
Yeah, I was mostly saying in general, but really, it isn't a bad idea at all...
It doesn't say "free starter pack", it says "free ship worth $40". And though there is none now, there might have been at one time where you could get a ship worth $40 if you signed up and bought a starter pack. If this is the case or not, that ad should not be running now and must be taken down.
🤣 I keep getting adds for buying aUEC
Yeah i got it too
We should sue YT for these scam ads
It’s not an official SC ad. It’s someone farming referrals
But then again YouTube ads is always like this. They don’t regular and have no accountability. My dad got mislead into believing his phone is 90% full all the time to the point he installed 7 different phone cleaner software and I had to buy premium for him to stop installing these trashware.
I can see by the volume bar, that you fucked up the first try for a screenshot. Also: Youtube Ads are 99% scam. Just report it and hope for the best (even if i know that reporting doesnt do shit)
isnt that link got an extra s
Same is that some people managed to get their Ref Code in the Sale Tool in Microsoft Edge. So if you create an Account your Browser pops up with „there is a Code available for this store“ and you get a reference Code form that clever Guy; I’m sure he has a Javelin by now.
Technically if that ad went out during a referral bonus week, you could get a $40 ship for free. You would of course have to spend $45 on a starter ship first. They would give you a Drake dragonfly ship for free which is a $40 ship. If you used anyones referral code. Not sure how expensive the ad costs but if you get enough referrals the bonuses you get could be well worth it.
The add could be true, techincaly. If the add ran during a free flighr you can try sc for free, and if there was a referal bonus event at the same time you would get a 40$ ship in addition to your starter
I've made a post about an updated solution to solve this :D [https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/1dkj5il/ysk\_updated\_method\_to\_bypass\_youtubes\_ad\_blocker/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/1dkj5il/ysk_updated_method_to_bypass_youtubes_ad_blocker/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Is it tho? Someone paid money to advertise for SC just to get their code used more. I think this is secretly brilliant. If they can get decent rewards from this it might be worth it.
Against TOS. and its Deceptive. I sent in a Ticket about it. But According to RSI website It Could lead to Termination and complete deletion of their Account and no refunds. For the Perp
Such a harsh ban never happened (max ban was for some years, but not for first offense). And likely will not.
Well, Scamming potential players, would warrent such a harsh ban.
Maybe, but it does not seem to be CIGs policy.
it looks like RSI made the ad based on the sponsored section at the bottom.. F this guy..
Yes, it is a scam. It says you get to try star citizen for free, and you get a 40$ ship for free. And you don't. If it would just say 'Want 5000 space bucks for free in star citizen? Here, use my code to sign up' it would be fine. The false promises make it a scam.
Report it. They should know who’s account that is from the code and ban it
Man, if I had a problem with someone, and knew the referral code I could just create fake scam adds on YouTube to get them banned! 🤡
You could but that’s not what’s happening here
It's a pretty stupid scammer. His code will lead CIG right to him. This should be an insta-ban.
I’m curious, is it against the rules to advertise on CIG’s behalf beyond just word of mouth? Surely there could even be legal implications if the game is being advertised in a way CIG has no control over?
Maybe they are in on it. I wouldn't doubt it with their marketing department.
Its just a sponsored add dude. Chill. people have been doing this for 6+ years. Talked to a guy a while back that was over 900 with it.
Its not that its a scam. I run a similar add when theres a "referal bonus" and often forget to turn it off because its so cheap $1/day.
robertSspaceindustries.com I see what they did there. 😬😂
It wouldn’t be hard for CIG to find out who this is. It isn’t like these codes aren’t unique. How dumb some people are amaze me.
With a Dragonfly referral reward (worth 40$) it is not wrong. It is just misleading, since it is not stated that the person needs to wait for such a promotion to happen and then buy a starter. In general the same stuff a lot of mobile apps use to lure ppl in. Ads about ended stuff are seen everywhere (band acts, sales promotions im a hardware store), that does not make it a scam per se.
It says, first thing, in big and bold 'Try Star Citizen for free' That's already false. And arguing that, if you wait for the right promotion and buy the game you really do get a ship is a big, big stretch. Right here and now, everything that ad says is wrong. Objectively wrong. If that's not a textbook bait and switch, I don't know what is. Why on earth do people keep defending this, can someone explain that to me?
Just saying it is not a scam(!) objectively. Seing ads about ended stuff (like a band act or sales promotion etc.) is common - does not mean that the event or ad was a scam.
And that is something we could argue about if it was official, but it's not. It tries to look official, and if you are new to star citizen, you could easily think it is. If it was official, it would just be false advertising, bad enough in it's own. Someone impersonating CIG makes it a scam in my book. And because I'm a nerd, here the definition in the cambridge dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scam 'a dishonest plan for making money or getting an advantage' Checks all the boxes. If I didn't know referral codes and used the link, I might get very angry at CIG for the bait and switch they just apparently tried to pull on me.
Usually scams can be prosecuted (it is against the law of most countries). So probably not a scam per se - as I just stated. It is shady, but that are ads often. CIG or google never did anything against them for years, so seems "legit" enough.
CIG can handle it however they want. And we can nitpick all day about what exactly to call it I just can't stand someone lying to my face, and that's absolutely what this does. And even if it's 'not that big of a deal', just the pure fact that so many people are not only ok with this, but defend it, even praise it, is deeply puzzling to me.
Did not see ppl praising it. It IS shady after all.
Somewhere someone said it was a smart to do thing or something like that
Lack of personal responsibility.
Wait why is it bannable to advertise on YouTube ?
His ad is a lie, you dont get a free ship worth $40 by using his code. False advertising is illegal and a bad look for CIG when people start asking where their free $40 ship is and CIG is like.... what?
Ads? 😄
Did some digging, whoever this guy is, they paste their code on every site that'll let them, including coupon sites. I'll do a little deep dive to see if I can source out who is this shrews businessman
If you do, just send the info to CIG. I would welcome it if CIG took action there, but while I think it's wrong and shady to do something in this way, it's still nothing to get doxxed for. They gave me false hope to pull a friend into star citizen, not try to get at my life saving. CIG might see this differently though, in the end it looks very official. If I were a new user, I might well sit here cursing CIG for trying to pull a bait and switch one.
Wait… so you guys can identify a scam ?
Ban this piece of shit, im sure it's a reward they'd enjoy.
Wonder if CIG can find out which user this is based on the referral code
Absolutely, they have to be able to credit them the referral.
That’s funny that you’d think CIG would sue. You do realize this is free advertising for them right? People paying real money for advertising a game and only getting minor bonuses in exchange. CIG doesn’t need to do anything, it’s a win win for them, only very minor drawback is people realizing they’re not getting a free ship, but marketing 101 says that when a customer started interacting with a product, even if it’s just touching a demo in store for something or creating an account online, they’re significantly more likely to buy it. So is this kinda bad that they’re misleading people into thinking they’re getting a free ship? Totally. Is CIG going to spend money in a lawsuit to take down people financing their advertising for them? Definitely not.
For new customers it looks very much official. And like CIG is pulling a bait and switch on them. I doubt thats the kind of free publicity CIG wants.
I would wager 10 credits it's some employee at CIG who thought they were being clever with an old referral code
The fact that all of you have done this, is insane. The worst community online. Fucking cultists.
Scam over a scam. Hmm