• by August 30, 2007

The Florida attorney general's office has sued World Avenue USA, formerly based in Boca Raton, and its CEO NiuNiu Ji for alleged deceptive Internet advertising practices.

Attorney General Bill McCollum called the company's offers of free gifts or prizes "a deliberate attempt to misinform or mislead Floridians." The company is now based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the lawsuit.

The two-year-old Online Lead Generation Association (OLGA) jumped on the news to reaffirm its commitment to industry self-regulation. "From this lawsuit, and from ongoing investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, it should be abundantly clear: the tide is turning and misleading lead generation practices will no longer be tolerated," wrote Dan Felter, OLGA chairman and the CEO of Opt-Intelligence, Inc., in an alert to members.

"They are an affront to consumers, they put advertisers' brands at risk and they diminish the user experience at many Web sites," Felter continued.

The Florida attorney general's announcement of the lawsuit said World Avenue has operated under the name NIUTech "and a myriad of others" since 2006. In fact, it named nearly 75 Web sites the company has allegedly operated--ranging from MyChoiceRewards.com and ProductOpinionPanel.com to Get Your Free Bracelet and Funny Free Clips.

The Attorney General's Economic Crimes Division said its investigation revealed that consumers have typically encountered the company through e-mail solicitations, Internet "pop-up" windows, or paid advertisements linked to Google and other search engines. The advertisements conveyed that consumers could receive "free" merchandise if certain program requirements were met, the division said.

"Investigators concluded that neither the 'Program Details' or 'Terms and Conditions' found on the Web sites associated with the company's offers clearly disclosed important caveats to the promotions. Disclaimers should have stated that every 'free' gift required the consumer to make one or more cash purchases, that the combined dollar amount of purchases required to receive the gift could exceed the retail value of the 'free' gift. The total cost necessary to obtain the 'free' gift should have also been disclosed.

In addition, the lawsuit cites concerns that consumers were misinformed about the process for obtaining the free prize, including misleading statements about when the process would conclude.