Lax policy allows Google ads to fool Vietnamese consumers
Anyone can place healthcare ads on Google without having to prove their product or service quality.
 |
In Vietnam, one has to provide papers or quality certificates for their products if they want to advertise medicines or healthcare products or services.
However, it only takes 30 minutes to complete procedure to launch an ad campaign on Google.
A Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter has gone undercover as a food supplements seller and called a Google hotline in Vietnam, asking to create online ads on the Internet search giant.
The reporter was told that he only needs an international bank card and a website to display the ads to run a campaign, and was asked to select a campaign option for the keyword-based ads.
Fooled by Google ads
Vietnamese newspapers often ask for licenses or papers related to the products being advertised before accepting ads for such products.
However, the Google representative told the Tuoi Tre reporter that he did not have to do so with the online ads.
It only takes 30 minutes to create an ad campaign with Google, which will allow the advertised websites to appear on the first result page when a related keyword is searched.
The lax policy has allowed dubious services or poor-quality products to be advertised online, so long as the sellers are willing to pay.
Many local consumers have in fact been fooled by the misleading ads they found when googling for medicines or healthcare services.
L., a Hanoi resident, said she had searched for some food supplements sellers and decided to choose one website that appeared on the first page of Google.
The site claims to sell goods taken from Australia and has a few dozen thousands of followers, L. recalled.
The Hanoi woman bought some digestive support supplements and collagen skincare pills, only to see her skin became yellowish and her health worsened.
L. went to the doctor and was diagnosed with elevated liver function. Her complaint and request for a refund was rejected by the website.
Similarly, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, another Hanoi resident, googled for the best clinics to treat his sore throat, and eventually visited one that was listed in the top three search results.
Tuan was given a VND2 million (US$46) prescription, which eventually did nothing to cure his disease.
The patient said he had tried to contact other clinics listed as the top Google results, but none of them appear to be trustworthy.
Follow the rule
Many experts have said Google ads should be regulated as per the Vietnamese law, adding that online ads should be treated the same as traditional ads on prints or other means of mass media.
Huynh Thanh Phi, a marketing expert, said Vietnam’s law on competition and advertising prohibit such acts as providing false or misleading ads, but the regulations do not cover ad campaigns launched by Google or Facebook.
The rules must be amended to include such a new form of ad, Phi said.
Vu Manh Cuong, deputy head of the communication department under the Ministry of Health, said the ministry already stipulates that Google follows the rule on healthcare-related ads in Vietnam.
“Google is working with advertisers in Vietnam through local agents, who I believe clearly know such a regulation from the health ministry,” Cuong said.
“These agents must follow the rule rather than accepting ads from anyone who are willing to pay, ignoring the fact that false ads could cost fooled consumers of their time, money and health.”
Cuong acknowledges that Google may already have their own policy on ad content management.
“What should be done now is that Vietnamese authorities should check if Google, through their local agents, are complying to the law or not,” he suggested.
